National Culture and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

In this chapter, we attempt to increase the awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) by articulating the development of DEIrelated concepts and examining the cultural determinants of DEI. After reviewing the thoughts and movements of D, E, and I, individually, we confirm the notion that D, E, and I are interdependent and should be integrated, and the prevailing DEI reflects this notion. We also study DEI policies in leading firms around the world. We observe that firms are more committed to DEI in Western developed countries, especially Anglo-Saxon countries, than those from developing countries. We use Hofstede’s culture indices to formulate hypotheses on the relationship between national culture and DEI practices. Based on the 2021 D&I Index top 100 D&I firms provided by Refinitiv, we find that individualism is significant and positively associated with DEI, whereas power distance is significant and negatively associated with DEI.