This research argues that variations in the interplay between cultural assimilation and cultural diffusion have played a significant role in giving rise to differential patterns of economic development across the globe. Societies that were geographically less vulnerable to cultural diffusion,...

"Manuel Feliú provides detailed arguments in favor of the role of private incentives, private ownership of means of production, and competitive markets as basic means of achieving both growth and equity"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57