Direct and Indirect Implications of Pathogen Prevalence for Scientific and Technological Innovation

摘要

Rates of scientific and technological innovation vary widely across cultures, but why? Given the previously documented effects of disease threat on cultural values and traits that inhibit innovation, this variation may be due, at least in part, to regional variation in the prevalence of disease-causing pathogens. Five country-level measures of innovation were used to investigate this hypothesis. Preliminary results revealed that pathogen prevalence was significantly associated with all five measures of innovation. Further analyses revealed that pathogen prevalence significantly predicted innovation when statistically controlling for other purported causes of cross-cultural variation in innovation, such as education, wealth, and population structure. Finally, mediational analyses revealed that the effect of disease prevalence on innovation was mediated by levels of collectivism and conformity. These results demonstrate that the previously documented impact of disease threat on cultural value systems may have downstream consequences for scientific and technological innovation.