Cultural values in the formation of competitiveness and sustainable growth

Abstract

The framework of the economic growth study consists in exploring the performance of productive factors, both in quality and quantity, of the interplay of these factors with the domestic product, all influenced by the political, social and international context. In the aim of complementing the formal growth theory with empirical referents and emphasize the importance of considering additional elements in this process, this research focuses on the potential link between the cultural values of a selected group of countries and other production factors, in order to explore whether such informal social capital influences decisively its creation and performance. This work also includes two variables related to equity and environmental care, considered as essential inputs for sustainable competitiveness and growth, as well as the analysis on how these variables are affected by the national culture. Results demonstrate that culture influences all of them through different channels and that even though this relationship is not stable over time or vary according to the degree of competitiveness reached by a country, is consistent across nations and at different stages of economic development.