Growth theories: The realities of the last decades (Issues of sociocultural codes — to the expansion of the research program)

Abstract

This article is aimed at examining institutional approaches to the theories of economic growth, and touches upon especially the influence of sociocultural codes on the development of the world economy. The presented study compares the rates of economic growth, taking into account various classifications of count- ries according to Angus Maddison, Ronald Inglehart, and the cluster approach. One of the main results is a proposal to move from the dichotomy and study of “advanced—emerging states” over long time periods, used in Maddison’s research, to the study of subgroups of countries, including cluster analysis, over a more compact period — 1992—2019. With the help of clustering, it was concluded that the group of the most developed countries retains an advantage in the level of development but does not demonstrate growth rates higher than the “catching up” groups. Thus, the convergence of levels of development does not actually occur. The article also illustrates that a disaggregated analysis of growth by clusters creates interesting opportunities for a further development of the research program.