Values and Economic Development

This paper explores the relationship between economic growth and the structure of values and motives in developing societies.
Part I deals with the set of data on the relationship between values and economic growth, presented in McClelland's studies of achievement motivation.' An outdated perspective which regards the international stratification system as the expression of inherent differences between peoples and cultures, has resulted in an erroneous interpretation of data. A more meaningful picture of the data is then presented in terms of the dynamics of social change.