Purpose – This paper seeks to use a multi-disciplinary approach to analyze past and present economic and social explanations for development phenomena. A number of key factors may be missing from the current paradigm. Design/methodology/approach – Comparative country surveys of corruption, ownership, freedom, and individualism are analyzed and discussed. Measurements on nine separate indices are evaluated for 97 nations. These interact to form a model labeled the Triad of Strains with three composite axes: ownership-responsibility, freedom-actualization, and control-corruption. Findings – Three theses are suggested from the comparative analyses: without ownership there can be no responsibility, freedom and responsibility go hand-in-hand, and unwise use of political control severely undermines economic development. Research limitations/implications – Limitations include unavailable data for key areas such as North Korea. Practical implications – Implications are that development policies should promote meaningful private ownership and personal freedom. Originality/value – This research explores how ownership and freedom critically impact prosperity and provides a more complete, multi-disciplinary framework for economic development.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Volume (Year): 22 (2006) Issue (Month): 4 (September) Pages: 185-204 Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML
(with abstract),
plain text
(with abstract),
BibTeX,
RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite),
ReDIF