Work Goal and Civic Attitude Implications of Within-Country Regions::Decentralization, Fragmentation and Choice

We use recent government administration theory and databases about regional and local decentralization to help international business and management scholars identify countries where within-country regional culture differences approximate country differences. We predict regional differences in citizens’ choices about work goals, work centrality, and attitudes about democracy and ethical compliance with laws. Using standard deviations among regions, we compare region differences within countries that explicitly decentralize control to sub-country governments in different ways, show different degrees of regional language and religion fractionalization, and show different degrees of municipal decentralization. We find no effects of governmental decentralization through federal versus unitary constitutions or associated legislation supporting regional decentralization. Instead, countries with high levels of some aspects of implicit regional fractionalization, little municipal government autonomy, and low GDP show regional differences in some criteria. <br/> <br/>