Culture, Utility Function and Economic Growth: The Case of Mexican Indigenous People

Abstract

Abstract Indigenous communities are the poorest sector in Mexico, and much of their precarious situation is due to their economic behavior. This article analyzes the part of their culture that affects their current economic behavior and that is derived from what happened in their history, beginning in the colonial era. However, unlike other studies, this study links cultural aspects with a formal model of economic growth. To this end, a way of incorporating various cultural factors into the utility function of the individuals composing that society is shown, and those factors are then integrated into a model of economic growth. In this way, conclusions are obtained that would have been difficult to reach otherwise. The cultural factors that are added to the utility function are preferences for working with household specialization and using a technology similar to that used by their ancestors. The emergence and formation of these preferences is shown throughout their history because the communities were acquiring them as part of their survival strategies against a very adverse environment. Likewise, empirical evidence of the relationship of the aforementioned cultural factors with economic growth is presented. Classification code O12, O32, Z13