Abstract
Neo-liberal economics is built upon the claim that the freedom to pursue one’s self-interest and rational choice leads to economic growth and development. Against this background neo-liberal economists and policymakers endeavoured to universalise this claim, and insistently argue that appropriate economic policies produce the same results regardless of cultural values. Accordingly, developing countries are often advised to embrace the neo-liberal economic credo for them to escape from the trap of underdevelopment. However, the economic success of South East Asia on the one hand and the failure of economic development in sub-Saharan Africa on the other, are increasingly proving that the ‹economic’ argument cannot be taken dogmatically: self-interest and rationality do not seem to be the sufficient explanations for economic development. One other avenue to be taken seriously is the link between cultural values and economic development. After viewing the principle of self-interest against its historico-cultural background, I consider this link in the African context, and argue that, although they cannot be taken as the sole factor, people’s cultural beliefs and values are crucial for economic development. Economic growth and development need to be a substantiation of a people’s beliefs and values. In African value system, this substantiation could lead to what one would call ‹ubuntu economy’ in which the state, the markets and the people are all agents, and not patients, in the process of economic growth and development.
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Acknowledgements
I thank the Philosophical Society of South Africa (PSSA) and the International Society of Business, Ethics, and Economics (ISBEE) for organising forums from which this article benefited through valuable comments and suggestions. I express my sincere gratitude to my Ph.D Advisor, Prof. Deon Roussow from the University of Pretoria, and Prof. Georges Enderle from the University of Notre Dame, USA for their accompaniment on my ongoing research of the link between values and economic development. The article has also benefited a lot from the comments and the suggestions of the reviewers. I appreciate very much their enlightenment and help. The friendly insights and kind encouragement of Prof. John Mittelstaedt from Clemson University, USA, on a research visit at the University of Notre Dame, are greatly appreciated. Certain sections have been added to the original text while I was on Robert S. McNamara- World Bank fellowship, at the University of Notre Dame. I am grateful to World Bank for this opportunity.
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Ntibagirirwa, S. Cultural Values, Economic Growth and Development. J Bus Ethics 84 (Suppl 3), 297–311 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0203-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0203-0