Abstract

This paper focuses on contending perspectives on the causes of and ingredients for economic growth. Specifically, we will focus on a Gregory Clark’s new assertion on the importance of labor quality, downward social mobility, and good bourgeois virtues as an explanation for economic growth in general and the occurrence of the Industrial Revolution around 1800 in England in particular. This new perspective is compared and contrasted with other perspectives on economic growth, particularly the role of institutions. Though Clark’s emphasis on culture, and “perhaps genes”, and good bourgeois virtues give an explanation for the English economic growth (the Industrial Revolution), it does not fully debunk the role of institutions in spurring economic growth, especially given the present context in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. We argue that Clark’s new ideas definitely help to better understand economic growth but it is not able to fully dismiss the importance and vitality of good institutions as an engine of economic growth.