The Role of National Culture as an Indicator of Evidence of Sustainable Development

Abstract

Research background: In recent decades, scientists have focused on sustainable development goals. Cultural issues are evident in sustainable development, but the scientific inclusion of cultural aspects remains a challenge. Purpose: The study aims to link cultural aspects and sustainability goals. Also, the purpose of this study, is to use the composite cultural index to include the latest research findings on this matter and extend them to cover the six cultural dimensions identified in the Hofstede cultural model. Yeganeh (2011) proposed a methodology for compiling a composite cultural index, but the author included only a few cultural dimensions. The authors of this article present an analysis of fifteen Sustainable Development Goals in the 27 countries of the European Union to rank countries according to the contribution of national culture to the Sustainable Development Goals. Research methodology: The methodology used an international expert survey on the dimensions of culture and the constructed correlation matrix. Results: The results show a correlation between the four goals of sustainable development, although the direction is different: one has a positive relationship, and three have a negative one. Novelty: The article’s value is that the authors created a composite cultural index for research on sustainable development and expanded the results presented by other authors.