Society’s Attitudes toward the Market Economy in Bulgaria. Personal Values, Social Norms, Institutions, and Implications for the Economy: A Preliminary View

Abstract

Development of society is important to the development of the economy. This paper uses a survey of attitudes and social norms of Bulgarians, and applies an analysis of these to the success of institutions that will help in the development of the Bulgarian economy. The analysis is based on a survey of 1200 people conducted in 2000. Personal values, such as risk aversion, trust, and religious beliefs are considered. These are connected with social values such as the idea that the economy is a zero-sum game, the merits of change and growth, and the importance of cooperative working together. We describe the underlying theory of personal and social values, and consider the specific elements of these values, as they are multidimensional. Transition is not just a move from “old, bad” to “new, good” values that are a single integral unit, but movement on a variety of values. In general, values have their influence on growth more through changes in institutions than directly through personal motivations. We model this surprising result, and show how the values we examine influence Bulgaria’s institutions--most specifically through accession to the EU and NATO. We plan in further work to use the survey to develop regression analysis of Bulgarians’ willingness to adopt western-oriented policies, based on their personal values. Such factors as education, religion, age and income play their role. We plan to examine additional combinations as well.