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2023 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

5. Culture, Development and Liberal Values

Authors : Bryan Cheang, Tom G. Palmer

Published in: Institutions and Economic Development

Publisher: Springer Nature Singapore

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Abstract

This chapter explores the importance of ‘getting the culture’ right. Culture is not an immutable trait or an essential characteristic of a people, nation or group, but as a set of dynamic values that evolve over time. The prevailing climate of opinion, determined by intellectuals and various dealers of ideas, affects whether society supports growth-enhancing activities or socially sanctions them. Accordingly, liberal values rooted in respect for individual rights, dignity and agency are essential ingredients for economic development and progress. By dignifying wealth-creating activities of entrepreneurship, work and investments, liberalism unlocks the economic potential of nations. Ultimately, however, the prevailing cultural climate in society is a product of an uncertain process of competition in the cultural marketplace, where various entrepreneurs put forth different social values and struggle for dominance.

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previous chapter Institutions and Market-Driven Development
next chapter State Capacity and the Political Infrastructure of Development
Footnotes
1
It should be noted that since 2000, the rankings of countries on the Corruptions Perceptions Index have changed.
 
2
There is ongoing debate about whether East Asia’s growth has simply been limited to ‘catch-up’, and lacks the innovation of ‘cutting-edge growth’. Heterodox political economists also write about the developmental state approach that East Asia undertook, which supposedly challenges the free market model. We will visit this issue in the next chapter.
 
3
Joel Mokyr also identified the fact that Europe experienced political fragmentation, which provides an institutional basis that facilitated the rise of these ideas, as compared to other continents where centralisation was the norm.
 
4
For more on concepts like ‘critical junctures’ and ‘path dependence’, refer to James Mahoney (2006).
 
5
See Thomas Sowell’s (1995, 1997, 1999) three-volume work on migration and wars of conquests as drivers of cultural change in history.
 
6
The post-war period saw significant changes, where independent Singapore rolled back the liberal flavour of British governance while Hong Kong sustained the same arrangements till 1997.
 
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Metadata
Title
Culture, Development and Liberal Values
Authors
Bryan Cheang
Tom G. Palmer
Copyright Year
2023
Publisher
Springer Nature Singapore
Book
Institutions and Economic Development

Print ISBN: 978-981-9908-43-1

Electronic ISBN: 978-981-9908-44-8

Copyright Year: 2023

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-0844-8_5

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