Rural conservatism and the urban spirit of capitalism? : On the geography of human values

This analysis makes an empirical enquiry into urban-rural and regional value differences in Europe. In this task we use the 7th Round of the European Social Survey (ESS) and Eurostat's NUTS-level data and focus on four value orientations derived from the Human Values Scale: Self-enhancement, Self-transcendence, Openness to change and Conservation. Results show that the most distinct urban-rural differences lie in the Conservation versus Openness to change axis. Additionally, Conservation is associated with lower regional gross domestic product (GDP), whereas Self-enhancement, emphasizing a motivation for self-interest and interpersonal rivalry and hence behavioural dimension of capitalism, is positively associated with population density.Peer reviewe