English Title: Transnational Cultures in Europe. Empirical Evidence

Geschichte und Gesellschaft, Sonderheft, 24 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, pp. 182-201.

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Translation of abstract (English)

The underlying argument of the paper is that EU economic integration is easier when economic order and economic culture in the member states are congruent. First, main dimensions of the EU’s economic order (“script”) are extracted from its treaties. Second, citizens’ values toward these dimensions are operationalized using the EVS. The extent to which countries support this EU script is assessed. Both a cluster analysis and a discriminant analysis yield the same result of three distinct economic cultures: a Scandinavian cluster especially supporting the ideas of free markets and showing a great deal of trust; an Eastern European cluster, characterized by high achievement motivation; and a Western and Southern European cluster with medium values on both dimensions.