What Feeds on What? Networks of Interdependencies between Culture and Institutions

We propose a methodology inspired by ecology to map the complex interdepen- dencies between cultural and institutional factors - controlling for other socioeco- nomic and structural characteristics. We characterize interdependencies as asym- metric symbiotic relations, distinguishing between ‘hosts’ that nurture other factors and ‘symbionts’ that reversely feed on the former. We use correlation network anal- ysis to compute a map of multiple such interdependencies for Brazil, which has a vast territory, internally diversified historical paths and a multilevel governance structure. We set the empirical analysis at the municipality level and find that in- stitutional factors tend to be symbionts, whereas cultural factors tend to be hosts. However, our results also show that institutions assume multiple roles within a com- plex network of interdependencies, often becoming themselves habitat for others or transmittors of indirect effects.