Abstract
This paper analyses culture as a determinant of technology adoption in a developing country. While the literature discusses the influence of culture upon economic growth, little attention has been paid to the mechanisms at the micro level. Therefore, we postulate that culture plays a crucial role in hindering or fostering the diffusion of innovation, a key trigger of the engine of growth. This empirical study uses the Ethiopia Rural Household Survey to disentangle between individual cultural traits, namely, ethnicity and religion, and the cultural homogeneity of the environment as co-determinants of fertiliser adoption. To examine our hypotheses, we apply a multivariate survival model for clustered and correlated observations to account for time and location effects. The results reveal significant differences in the probability of adopting fertiliser among cultural groups. Moreover, habits and social norms, proxied by ethnicity, provide a better explanation for the role of culture, than religious beliefs, as usually posited in the literature. Also, the cultural environment turns out tobe a decisive trigger. The probability of adoption is higher in rural societies with a homogeneous ethnic environment but distinct religious variety.
Highlights
Culture is the foundation of human behaviour
Culture affects the adoption of fertiliser in Ethiopia
The aim of this paper was to analyse the relation between culture and the adoption of innovations as a specific determinant of economic growth
Summary
Culture is the foundation of human behaviour. Social norms and beliefs taught during up-bringing, adapted to or fortified by the environmental context and transferred to the generation are key to the differentiation of cultures around the globe. Aiming to understand the origins of the divergence in development paths, we examine culture as a determinant of economic performance. Most research has analysed the relation between culture and trade or culture and institutions to explain and verify the influence of culture on economic outcomes. These approaches run the risk of identifying spurious relations, as it is a difficult empirical exercise to disentangle economic growth from simultaneous social and cultural development. We suggest taking a micro perspective, which can shed light on the underlying mechanisms that connect cultural background and growth
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