The Relationship Between Economic Development and Socio-Cultural Values: According to Alfred Marshall

Abstract

Alfred Marshall was an English economist who lived between 1842-1924. He is known in the literature as the founder of Neo-Classical Economic Thought and the Cambridge School. His book, Principles of Economics, is one of the few books written in economics. Marshall, like most economists, deals not only with economics itself but also examines the socio-psychological and socio-cultural conditions that affect economic development.  According to him, economic development is a matter of time and context, and also a phenomenon heavily affected by various factors such as climatic conditions, tradition, social structure, family and religion. Given positive impacts of moral factors, Marshall argues that faithful, free, hopeful, patient, willful, compassionate, and helpful community is esseantial for achieving a proper economic development. As a result, unlike most of today's economists, Marshall does not see economic development only as a numerical increase in national income.