Influence of Values, Culture, Ethics and Norms on Economic Results: Case of Slovenia

In this text the authors try to research how values/culture/ethics/norms (VCEN) influence economic results in the perception of a representative sample of Slovenian intellectuals. A field research, including a questionnaire was conducted, backed by a development economics-based view of the so-called transitional countries of the Central and Eastern Europe (CEEC), especially Slovenia. The text discusses two theses: (1) not only the economic reality and socioeconomic institutions, but also the VCEN of Slovenians are going through a transition process. Individual values of VCEN can be well represented in a survey; (2) the transition process of VCEN is slower than the one of socioeconomic institutions; this discrepancy inhibits the potential rate of socioeconomic development of CEEC, including Slovenia. More attention must be given to the acceleration of innovation of VCEN by influences reaching beyond the usual socioeconomic institutions and market in order to enhance the development of transitional countries.