Copyright: Marcel van Marrewijk 1 A Value-Based and Multi-Level Model of Economic Systems Author: Marcel van Marrewijk Biographies: Marcel van Marrewijk (1959) studied Institutional Economics at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. Currently, he is founder and director of Research to Improve BV he is board member of several foundations, all involved in cutting edge developments in learning, research and business implementation. From 2002-2004 he was main contributor to an EU sponsored research project which developed the European Corporate Sustainability Framework. Address: Van Linden van den Heuvellsingel 7 3135 KH Vlaardingen The Netherlands Tel: +31(0)6 8 1953 777 E-mail: marcel@vanmarrewijk.nl Abstract: The author was challenged to deal with the inability of dominant economic models to explain the differences in performance between particular clusters of countries. Based on Spiral Dynamics, a theory describing levels of existence within people, groups of people, organizations and societies, the author rearranged economic systems into an evolutionary sequence. For each system, the author elaborated on the underlying value systems and relating institutional structures, such as leadership style, governance and measurement format. Does this approach explain the clusters in economics performance? Can we describe national economies adequately by these ideal type economic systems? Do countries seem to converge to a particular level or does for instance Europe exist of leading and lagging contributors to the European Economy? What are the consequences of a European Economic model consisting of a sequence of various economic systems? As a summary, a Transition Matrix is presented which indicate the paradigm shifts per discipline, as manifested in the subsequent ideal type economic systems. Keywords Value systems, Economic systems, European Economic Model Abbreviations CS-R Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility ECSF European Corporate Sustainability Framework ECLET Emerging Cyclical Levels of Existence Theory EC European Commission EU European Union