Measurement and graphic representation of cultural distances between Latin American countries

Abstract

Despite the central role of cultural distances in social sciences, literature is surprisingly scarce in quantitatively measuring and graphically representing this concept in Latin America. This study addresses this issue calculating a cultural distance index using the nine cultural dimensions measured by House et al. (2004) for ten Latin American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Venezuela. Also, this study graphically presents the cultural distances calculated. The relevance of this study is the ability to incorporate cultural indicators that allow comparing the current situation and prospects in Latin America. In order to illustrate the implications of this study, the case of cultural distances of Mexico with other nine Latin American countries is analyzed