12. Economic Growth and Cultural Background

The present chapter aims to contribute to the interpretation of the annual growth rates of GDP with specific reference to fundamental growth factors (i.e., capital, labor and human capital) and cultural background. The focus here is on cultural background as an influential element of growth. Whether directly or indirectly, culture influences the outcome of the economic process. The importance of culture, its quantification and formal analysis can prove challenging. Acemoglu (Introduction to modern economic growth. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Economics, London, 2009) looked to the work of Montesquieu (The spirit of the laws. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1989), Machiavelli (Discourses on Livy. Oxford University Press, New York, 1987) and Marshall (Principles of Economics. Prometheus Books, New York, 1997) for references regarding the general features of the environment that may impact on attitudes and human conventions. The role of religion has been underlined by Weber (The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. Scribner, New York, 1958) and more recently by Harrison and Huntington (2000), and Putnam (Am Prospect 4:11–18, 1993) broadened the meaning of cultural factors and trust as they relate to the concept of social capital.