Abstract:

Culture， as a crucial variable influencing organizational， group， and individual behavior， has consistently been a core topic in management and organizational behavior studies. Since the reform and opening up， China has undergone a great transformation from a planned economy to a socialist market economy. Understanding how culture has changed during this process has become an urgent question. The marketization process in China is not only an economic transformation but also a profound social and cultural shift. Therefore， studying the impact of marketization on the inheritance and evolution of Chinese culture holds significant theoretical and practical importance. Based on the dialectical materialist view of culture， the theory of social change， culture and human development， and the theory of cultural identity， it is hypothesized that the marketization process significantly affects the inheritance and change of cultural values. To test the hypothesis， survey data from 5，916 respondents across 31 provinces in China’s mainland are calculated. Using multi-level analysis methods， the impact of marketization on cultural values and the underlying mechanisms is explored. Hofstede’ s cultural model provides a multidimensional framework that allows us to map China’ s culture from various perspectives and analyze the specific effects of marketization on different cultural values dimensions. The research approach comprises two main aspects： first， utilizing Hofstede’ s cultural dimensions to calculate the cultural indices of each province and the values scores of participants； second， applying multi-level analysis methods to investigate the impact of marketization levels on these cultural values dimensions and the underlying mechanisms. It particularly focuses on the cross-level mediating role of individual perceptions of industrial and commercial civilization between marketization levels and individual values in this paper. It is shown that Hofstede’ s concept of the cultural dimensions of countries （regions） is generally effective in the Chinese context， which verifies the argument that culture presents certain trends of change with the rapid economic and social transformation and the further deepening of the marketization process： from restraint to indulgence. At the same time， it is found evidence of the persistence and even strengthening of unique Chinese cultural traditions： high respect for authority， high collectivism， a masculine society， and low uncertainty avoidance. Moreover， it is confirmed that individual perceptions of industrial and commercial civilization play a cross-level mediating role in the relationship between marketization levels and individual values. These findings provide evidence for understanding the unique characteristics and evolutionary trends of Chinese culture in the context of marketization. They offer theoretical support for a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of China， its economic and social governance model， and the management and organizational behavior of Chinese enterprises.

Key words: China, province, culture, values, marketization