Towards a general theory of socio-economic development. Part 2. Evolution of coordination mechanisms

Abstract

The second part of the article is devoted to the theory of leading socioeconomic development. It is shown how in Western Europe, as a result of the interaction of culture, institutions, technological progress and the level of welfare, specific forms and combinations of the three main mechanisms of coordination — competition, power and cooperation — emerged at each stage of evolution. I emphasize the importance of ideology and the phenomenon of technical progress in the formation of institutions of economic and political competition that contributed to the emergence of the welfare state. These changes and economic growth created the conditions for further transformation of civil culture: increasing levels of trust, tolerance, altruism and cosmopolitanism, expanding the planned horizon. The decrease in the level of coercion built into the mechanisms of power and competition is demonstrated as well as the expansion of the role of collaboration. A hypothesis is advanced that the speed of this process depends on geographical factors. The idea of welfare world is discussed.