CoChat
Sign Up
PreprintCited by 30Culture, Economy, and Development StudiesCultural Differences and ValuesExperimental Behavioral Economics Studies

Indigenous Belief in a Just World: New Zealand Māori and Other Ethnicities Compared

Open access
Grimes, Arthur, MacCulloch, Robert, McKay, Fraser·2015·SSRN Electronic Journal
DOI 10.2139/ssrn.2668388
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Survey evidence has revealed large differences in beliefs held by different cultures and ethnicities which may affect their economic prosperity. We study how the beliefs of New Zealand’s indigenous Māori about the causes of wealth or poverty and the extent to which people are responsible for their own fate differ from non-Māori using World Values Survey data from 1995 to 2011. Māori are more likely to believe that (1) the poor have been unfairly treated and are not lazy; (2) a better life is due to luck and not hard work; (3) the Government is doing too little for those in need; and (4) business should not be run solely by the owners, compared to non-Māori. We control for income, education and employment status, inter alia. The paper also compares differences between Māori and non-Māori within NZ to those between (non-indigenous) blacks and non-blacks within the US, as a benchmark. Stark results hold with respect to non-economic beliefs: whereas Māori are 8.6% more likely to believe that the environment should be given priority over economic growth compared to non-Māori, blacks are 20.5% less likely to hold this view compared to other Americans. Hence the evidence suggests that being indigenous plays a role in belief formation.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.2139/ssrn.2668388

Cites

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • The pattern of just-world motivation has been primarily documented in Western cultures, with some cross-cultural samples.

    “This pattern of just-world motivation has been primarily documented in Western cultures, with some cross-cultural samples (e.g.Chobthamkit et al., 2022;Furnham, 1993;Grimes et al., 2015;Kaplan, 2012), as part of general motivational systems in secular participants.”

    From Victim blaming and belief in karma (2024) · cites this paper as Grimes et al., 2015

    The Abstract (p. 3) supports citing this paper as an example of a cross-ethnic study of just-world-related beliefs: it compares Māori with non-Māori and uses US ethnic comparisons as a benchmark. It does not establish that just-world motivation has been documented primarily in Western cultures, or that the participants were secular or studied as part of a general motivational system. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

No citation lists for this paper

No citation lists for this paper yet — checked again daily.

References 88 · Cited by 30

Research works printed but not linked: 51

  1. Alesina, A. and P. Giuliano (2011). 'Family Ties and Political Participation', Journal of the European Economic Association , 9(5), pp. 817-839.
  2. Alesina, A. and P. Giuliano, 'Culture and Institutions', Forthcoming Journal of Economic Literature .
  3. Bardhan, P. (2000). 'Irrigation and Cooperation: An Empirical Analysis of 48 Irrigation Communities in South India', Economic Development and Cultural Change , 48(4), pp. 847-865.
  4. Belich, J. (2009). Replenishing the Earth: The Settler Revolution and the Rise of the Anglo-World, 17831939, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  5. Benabou, R. and J. Tirole (2006). 'Belief in a Just World and Redistributive Politics', The Quarterly Journal of Economics , 121(2), pp. 699-746.
  6. Bertrand, M. and A. Schoar (2006). 'The Role of Family in Family Firms', Journal of Economic Perspectives , 20(2), pp. 73-96.
  7. Bowles, S. (1998). 'Endogenous Preferences: The Cultural Consequences of Markets and Other Economic Institutions', Journal of Economic Literature , 26, pp. 75-111.
  8. Denzau, A. and D. North (1994). 'Shared Mental Models: Ideologies and Institutions Kyklos , 47 (1), pp. 3-31.
  9. Di Tella, R., J. Dubra and R. MacCulloch (2010). 'A Resource Belief Curse: Oil and Individualism', in The Natural Resources Trap: Private Investment without Public Commitment, William Hogan and Federico Sturzenegger (Eds.), Cambridge, Massachussetts: MIT Press.
  10. Di Tella, R., S. Galiani and E. Shargrodsky (2007). 'The Formation of Beliefs: Evidence on the Allocation of Land Titles to Squatters', Quarterly Journal of Economics , 122 (1), pp. 209-241.
  11. Di Tella, R. and R. MacCulloch (2009). 'Why Doesn't Capitalism Flow to Poor Countries?', Brookings Papers on Economic Activity , Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, 40 (1) (Spring), pp. 285-332.
  12. Durie, M. (1998a). Whaiora: Māori Health Development (2nd ed.), Auckland: Oxford University Press.
  13. Durie, M. (1998b). Te Mana, Te Kawanatanga: The Politics of Māori Self-Determination, Auckland: Oxford University Press.
  14. Fabling, R. and A. Grimes (2014). 'The 'Suite' Smell of Success: Personnel Practices and Firm Performance', Industrial and Labor Relations Review , 67(4).
  15. Feldman, S. (1988). 'Structure and Consistency in Public Opinion: the Role of Core Beliefs and Values', American Journal of Political Science , 32 (2), May, pp. 416-440.
  16. Firth, R. (1959). [1929] Economics of the New Zealand Māori, (2nd ed.), Wellington: R.E. Owen, Government Printer.
  17. Flanagan, S. (1987). 'Value Change in Industrial Societies', American Political Science Review , 81, pp. 13031319.
  18. Frey, B. (1998). 'Institutions and Morale: The Crowding-out Effect', in A. Ben-Ner and L. Putterman (Eds.), Economics, Values and Organization, pp. 437-460, New York: Cambridge University Press.
  19. Ganglmair-Wooliscroft, A. and R. Lawson (2008). 'Applying the International Well-being index to Investigate Subjective Well-being of New Zealanders with European and with Māori heritage', Kotuitui: NZ Journal of Social Sciences Online, 3 (1), pp. 57-72.
  20. Giavazzi F., I. Petkov and F. Schiantarelli (2014). 'Culture: Persistence and Evolution', NBER Working Paper #20174, Cambridge MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
  21. Guiliano, P. and A. Spilimbergo (2014). 'Growing up in a Recession', Review of Economic Studies 81: pp. 787-817.
  22. Hart, O. (2001). 'Financial Contracting', Journal of Economic Literature , 39 (4), pp. 1079-1100.
  23. Holmstrom, B. and S. Kaplan (2001). 'Corporate Governance and Merger Activity in the United States: Making Sense of the 1980s and 1990s', Journal of Economic Perspectives , 15 (2), pp. 21-144.
  24. Holmstrom, B. and J. Roberts (1998). 'The Boundaries of the Firm Revisited', Journal of Economic Perspectives , 12 (4), pp. 73-94.
  25. Houkama, C. and C. Sibley (2010). 'The Multi-Dimensional Model of Māori Identity and Cultural Engagement', New Zealand Journal of Psychology , 39 (1), pp. 8-28.
  26. Inglehart, Ronald (1990). Culture Shift in Advanced Industrial Society, Princeton University Press.
  27. Inglehart, Ronald, and Hans-Dieter Klingemann (1976). 'Party Identification, Ideological Preference and the Left-Right Dimension among Western Mass Publics', in Party Identification and Beyond, eds. Ian Budge, Ivor Crewe and Dennis Farlie. London: John Wiley.
  28. Keesing, Roger (1974). 'Theories of Culture', Annual Review of Anthropology , 3, Palo Alto: Annual Reviews, Inc.
  29. Kitschelt, H. (1984). The Transformation of European Social Democracy, New York: Cambridge University Press.
  30. Knack, Stephen, and Philip Keefer (1995). 'Institutions and Economic Performance: Cross-country tests using Alternative Institutional Measures', Economics and Politics , 7 (3), pp. 207-228.
  31. Knutsen, O. and K. Staffan (2005). 'Value Orientations and Party Choice', in The European Voter, Thomassen Jacques (Ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 125-66.
  32. Lipset, S. (1979). The Third Century : America as a Post-Industrial Society, Stanford, Hoover Institution Press.
  33. Lipset, S. and S. Rokkan (1967). Party Systems and Voter Alignments: Cross-national Perspectives, Toronto: The Free Press.
  34. Malinowski B. (1921). Primitive Economics of the Trobriand Islands. Economic Journal , 31, pp. 1-16.
  35. McNeill H. (2009). 'Māori Models of Mental Wellness', Te Kaharoa , 2, pp. 96-115.
  36. Megginson W. and J. Netter (2001). 'From State to Market: A Survey of Empirical Studies on Privatization', Journal of Economic Literature , 39 (2), pp. 321-389.
  37. Michalopoulos S. and E. Papaioannou (2014). 'National Institutions and Subnational Development in Africa', The Quarterly Journal of Economics , 129 (1), pp. 151-213.
  38. Pauling, C. and J. Ataria (2010). 'Tiaki Para: A Study of Ngai Tahu Values and Issues Regarding Waste', in Landcare Research Science Series , No. 39, Lincoln: Manaaki Whenua Press.
  39. Pool, I. (1991). Te Iwi Māori: A New Zealand Population Past, Present and Projected, Auckland: Auckland University Press.
  40. Rokeach, M. (1973). The Nature of Human Values, New York: The Free Press.
  41. Roskruge, M., A. Grimes, P. McCann and J. Poot (2012). 'Social Capital and Regional Social Infrastructure Investment: Evidence from New Zealand', International Regional Science Review , 35 (1), pp. 325.
  42. Roskruge, M., A. Grimes, P. McCann and J. Poot (2013). 'Homeownership, Social Capital and Satisfaction with Local Government', Urban Studies , 50 (12), pp. 2517-2534.
  43. Shleifer, A. (1998). 'State versus Private Ownership', Journal of Economic Perspectives , 12 (4), pp. 133-150.
  44. Shleifer, A. and R. Vishny (1997). 'A Survey of Corporate', Journal of Finance , 52 (2), pp. 737-783.
  45. Sibley, C., N. Harre, W. Hoverd and C. Houkamau (2011). 'The Gap in the Subjective Well-being of Māori and New Zealand Europeans Widened Between 2005 and 2009', Social Indicators Research , 104, pp. 103-115.
  46. Spiller, C., L. Erakovic, M. Henare and E. Pio (2011). 'Relational Well-being and Wealth: Māori Business and an Ethic of Care', Journal of Business Ethics , 98, pp. 153-169.
  47. Sutch, W. (1966). The Quest for Security in New Zealand, 1940-1966, Wellington: Oxford University Press.
  48. Swidler, A. (1986). 'Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies', American Sociological Review, 51, pp. 273-286.
  49. Walker, R. (1991). 'Māori People Since 1950', in Oxford History of New Zealand (2nd edition), G. Rice (Ed.), pp. 498-519, Auckland: Oxford University Press.
  50. Weber, Max (1946). [1922-3] 'The Social Psychology of World Religions', in From Max to Weber, H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills (Eds.), New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 267-301.
  51. Zaller, J. (1991). 'Information, Values, and Opinion', The American Political Science Review , 85 (4), Dec., pp. 1215-1237.

Authors
Grimes, A., MacCulloch, R., & McKay, F.
Affiliations
  • Motu Economic and Public Policy Research (NZ)
  • Imperial College London (GB)
Corresponding author
Grimes, Arthur
ORCID
Venue
SSRN Electronic Journal
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2015
ISSN
1556-5068 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.2139/ssrn.2668388
OpenAlex
W2116593052
Cited by
30
References
88
Citations by year
2024: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 9
Type
posted content
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • SSRN Electronic Journal (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) (submittedVersion)
  • AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA)
Funders
  • Royal Society
  • Royal Society Te Apārangi
  • Marsden Fund (MEP1201)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Demography › Culture, Economy, and Development Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Cultural Differences and Values
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies
Keywords
belief in a just world, Māori, indigenous beliefs, ethnic differences, determinants of poverty, business ownership, Black and White comparison, belief formation, New Zealand

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review