Culture And Economic Growth: The Role Of Parenting

Ethnic groups vary in their experience of economic growth. To understand this problem, this paper focuses on culture, with a focus on parenting behaviors. It begins with an examination of culture and economic systems. A key observation is that, after the enlightenment, Western nations took the lead in developing a knowledge-based economy. As a consequence, Westerners excelled in wealth creation while other cultures remained in relative poverty. This has implications for parental practice and child development. While a resource-based economy may require a child to develop motor skills, in a knowledge economy, the emphasis is more on cognitive skills. The role of parents in developing human capital is examined. It is noted that a society’s resource base strongly influences the behaviors, capabilities and values passed on by parents. Parental behavior is culturally determined, yet academics have been reluctant to examine the role of culture in poverty, believing this is akin to blaming the victim. They instead argue that poverty undermines parental performance. This paper argues that child academic outcomes (and hence human capital value) can be enhanced by modifying parental behavior through parental programs. The situation for emerging economies is complex. Emerging economies are not yet fully developed ‘knowledge economies’. Replacing existing parental/educational practices may result in over-education and unemployment. However, without changes, transferring Western production methods to emerging economies may fail because of differences in human capital. This calls for a deeper understanding of human capital and consideration of structure, time discipline, self control, and cognitive skills.