The Culture and Development Index (CDI): Measuring Values and Attitudes Associated With Development In Selected Asian and Latin American Countries

Analyzing data gathered in five waves in the period 1981–2005 for up to 97 societies (most of which are independent countries), the World Values Survey Organization (WVSO) identified two orthogonal factors, Traditional/Secular-Rational Values, and Survival/Self-Expression Values, that account for up to 70 percent of cross-cultural variation worldwide. However, one weakness of the two-factor construct is that it overlooks regional or local patterns in values and attitudes that may be vitally related to development. Alternatively, the Culture and Development Index (CDI) and the closely related Culture and Corruption Index (CCI) are constructed for selected South and Southeast Asian, Latin American, and East Asian countries to account for cross-cultural variation in terms of a different set of orthogonal factors, some of which are strongly associated with leading measures of development and of corruption. Both CDI and CCI reveal patterns of value and attitudinal change relevant to promoting development and to mitigating corruption.