It's an important factor to consider. Just because you copy, say, the legislative system of Switzerland isn't going to give you Swiss outcomes. There was a story about some Latin American nations trying to copy Swedish style practices and it turned out an absolute disaster. In Japan, if you leave a cell phone in a coffee shop, you can come back hours later and it will be given to you. In Russia, not so much. In the 80s there was an effort -- the early shoots of globalism -- of trying to "industrialize" west Africa by trying to import Western European-style management and business practices, and all of these projects failed, and some resulted in large debt loads being carried. One wonders what could have happened if they just let Africa be Africa and develop its own industries with its own practices at its own pace. You are not going to get English property rights or rule of law, but you will get something that actually works in the local environment, which is more important, IMO.