Toward a unified Europe? Explaining regional differences in value patterns by economic development, cultural heritage and historical shocks

The concept of the 'Europe of the regions' has given rise to the question of whether there is a process of cultural unification discernible among European regions. The paper reports the results of an empirical analysis of cultural differences among a panel of 55 European regions. Modernization theorists argue that cultural convergence can be expected, whereas culturalist theorists claim there are processes of path dependence. Using existing measures of culture, it is found that economic development is an important driver for value change, but that cultural (religious) heritage leaves a permanent imprint. In addition, the results suggest that historical shocks influence the process of cultural change.