Culture, Institutions, and Economic Performance

This paper focuses on the ability of two closely related phenomena, namely culture and institutions (especially the in-formal ones, such as codes of conduct, norms of behavior, and conventions), to impact economic performance. The main emphasis here is on the first of the two – the culture. The paper deals with the impact of the latter on economic activity and agents’ behavior regarded from different viewpoints, including quantified and qualified ones. In addition, national and cultural differences of socioeconomic reforms are considered, as well as relations between culture and economic systems, culture and institutions, influence of cul-ture both on intra-firm and inter-firm relations, on the example of Russian corporations which use hybrid agreements and mechanisms of transaction management.