|
|
All We’ve Learnt
| |
Colonial Teachings and Caribbean Underdevelopment
|
Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines Volume 12, N°4 December 2002.
|
Abstract
Culture matters and development programs that rely on indigenous markets, that amplify local sensibilities which encourage entrepreneurial creativity, that build on an understanding of not only the specific organizational but institutional environment where they are being attempted, in short, efforts erected on the cultural capital of the context where it is being attempted will succeed. Efforts at cultural imperialism will not. This paper argues that in order to understand West Indian economic underdevelopment, the saliency of the informal institutions that emerged during its colonial period and the effect these institutions have had on the emergence of a local entrepreneurial class can not be discounted. Section I, asserts that British colonial occupation gave rise to two persistent informal institutions that have affected development: a belief in the ability and responsibility of government to direct the economy and pessimism regarding the possibility of entrepreneurial success. Section II, relying on Schumpeter’s discussion of the importance of entrepreneurs to economic development, examines how the poverty of entrepreneurs in the region has hampered past efforts at development.
Presented at the 2000 Southern Economic Association Conference (Crystal City, VA).
|
 Download "All We’ve Learnt" (PDF or MS Word)
|
virgil storr, ph.d.
Mercatus Center at George Mason University
3301 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 450, Arlington, VA 22201
(703)993-8127; fax: (703) 993-4935
vstorr@gmu.edu
Last Updated: February 2010
|