Are there any relationships between technology and cultural values? A country-level trend study of the association between information communication technology and cultural values

Abstract

Technology has significantly changed the way humans live. Information and communication technologies have advanced and given their important spillovers to other economic sectors. Sociocultural view of globalization posits that cultural values across the world are continuously changing. From the theoretical lens of technological determinism theory, technology of a society determines the development of its social structure and cultural values. Drawing on the sociocultural aspect of globalization and technological determinism theory, this study investigates the relationship between technology and national cultural values. Using secondary national-level data such as United Nations' E-Government Survey and Global Innovation Index, we validate the proposed relationships. The results of the study indicate that technology is an important driver of cultural convergence pushing national cultures across the globe to converge toward two cultural values suggested by Hofstede: higher individualism and lower power distance. This study also finds that technology increases national confidence in financial markets through creation of increased transparency. The study has implications for policymakers at both national and global levels regarding how technology affects the evolution of human societies. Additional implications exist for the promotion of democracy.