Is social progress subject to cultural influences? Arguments for considering cultural characteristics as inputs for social policy design and implementation

Abstract

A deep comprehension of the relation between the cultural characteristics exhibited by society and social issues can have a strong positive effect on the development of more effective and efficient, culturally adapted social policies. This paper focuses on the topic from an EU perspective, recognizing that better coordination of Member States' social policies and the implicit increase in social integration represent key factors for the broader European integration process (and its objectives of a monetary, fiscal or social nature) and cannot be reached without a full understanding of how cultural differences shape the EU's economic and social environment. Aimed at identifying relevant links between, on one hand, the cultural dimensions defined and measured by sociologists lead by Hofstede and Schwartz and, on the other, social progress as defined and measured by the Social Progress Index, this paper shows that indeed some cultural characteristics like Hofstede's indulgence and Schwartz's embeddedness and egalitarianism are of causal relevance for the social development process. Data indicate that the pivotal role in this causal link is played by the total social expenditures/ GDP per capita, which seem to be influenced by the above mentioned cultural characteristics, further transmitting this influence via their connection with elements relevant to social progress.