Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Arthur Grimes
Author-X-Name-First: Arthur	
Author-X-Name-Last: Grimes
Author-Email: arthur.grimes@motu.org.nz
Author-Workplace-Name: Motu Economic and Public Policy Research
Author-Name: Robert MacCulloch
Author-X-Name-First: Robert
Author-X-Name-Last: MacCulloch
Author-Email: r.macculloch@auckland.ac.nz
Author-Workplace-Name: University of Auckland
Author-Name: Fraser McKay
Author-X-Name-First: Fraser
Author-X-Name-Last: McKay
Author-Email: fraser.mckay@mercer.com
Author-Workplace-Name: Motu Economic and Public Policy Research
Title: Indigenous Belief in a Just World: New Zealand M?ori and other Ethnicities Compared
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 M?ori about the causes of wealth or poverty and the extent to which people are responsible for their own fate differ from non-M?ori using World Values Survey data from 1995 to 2011. M?ori 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-M?ori. We control for income, education and employment status, inter alia. The paper also compares differences between M?ori and non-M?ori 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 M?ori are 8.6% more likely to believe that the environment should be given priority over economic growth compared to non-M?ori, 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.
Length: 43 pages
Creation-Date:  2015-09
File-URL: https://motu-www.motu.org.nz/wpapers/15_14.pdf
Number: 15_14
Classification-JEL: P16, E62
Keywords: culture, beliefs, institutions
Handle: RePEc:mtu:wpaper:15_14