The impact of processes of long duration on the cultural potential for economic development in the peripheries of the European Union

The factors of cultural potential for economic development are: elite exclusion, management style, confidence, and conservatism. This study focuses on two research questions: (1) Do cultural factors affect economic development?; (2) Do cultural factors of significance to economic development derive from long-duration processes or from current adaptations within an international distribution of labour? The study compares countries where capitalism originated (United Kingdom, Netherlands) and historical manorial economies (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary). A country’s position in the international distribution of labour is indicated by its business service sector, industry, and agriculture. Economic development is measured based on productivity and GDP per capita. The study is based on data from the European Social Survey (ESS Round 6–8), OECD, and Eurostat. Cultural factors correlate with economic development; a regression analysis demonstrates that in terms of development, history matters more for cultural potential than does the current position in the international distribution of labour. Survey results indicate that the core-periphery model is one-sided, overemphasising the influence the core has on the underdevelopment of the peripheries.