Cultural Background and Economic Development Indicators: European South Vs European North

This paper examines the relationship between cultural background and economic development. We focus on the example of Greece in order to analyze the cultural disparities between the Mediterranean and the North-ern European countries. We find that there is a common cultural model characterizing the Southern European nations, which spans the Mediterranean coast, from Portugal to Turkey. These countries are characterized by high uncertainty and absence of future orientation. On the other hand the cultural background in Northern European countries is found on individualism. The paper shows that the cultural values model is mirrored in the basic traits characterizing the economic and business environment of the areas (North-South) under examination. The differential cultural background is reflected in the basic economic and social developmental indicators in a consistent way.