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National culture and environmental sustainability: A cross-national analysis

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Abstract

This paper demonstrates the significance of culture in examining the relationship between income and the environment. Specifically, we examine the relationship among scores on the Environmental Sustainability Index of the World Economic Forum and the four dimensions of national culture proposed and measured by Hofstede (1983). We find that there are significant multidimensional interrelationships among the cultural and environmental sustainability measures. As an important application, we examine the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) phenomenon. Our finding suggests the limited applicability of the EKC notion when cultural variables are included in the model.

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Author notes

  1. Hoon Park (Associate Professor)

    Present address: Department of Finance, University of Central Florida, 35487, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University, 35487, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

    Hoon Park (Associate Professor) & Clifford Russell (Professor)

  2. Department of Economics, Finance, and Legal Studies, University of Alabama, 35487, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

    Junsoo Lee (Professor)

Authors
  1. Hoon Park
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  2. Clifford Russell
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  3. Junsoo Lee
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Correspondence to Junsoo Lee.

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Park, H., Russell, C. & Lee, J. National culture and environmental sustainability: A cross-national analysis. J Econ Finan 31, 104–121 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02751516

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