Ar﬒cles 11 Determinants of Economic Growth * Department of Planning and Regional Development ** Department of Economics Prof. George Petrakos* and Paschalis Arvanitidis** University of Thessaly Pedion Areos, Volos, 38334, Greece Email: parvanit@uth.gr Summary: Over the last two to three decades a wide range of studies has inves﬒gated the determinants of economic growth. Using differing conceptual and methodological approaches, these studies have placed emphasis on a number of explanatory parameters and offered various insights to the process of economic growth. The current paper draws on a ques﬒onnaire survey addressed to various experts (academics, policy makers and business people), to iden﬒fy the factors that either support or inhibit growth poten﬒al and to assess their degree of significance. A number of points emerge. First, that alongside conven﬒onal determinants, it is also the poli﬒cal and ins﬒tu﬒onal aspects of an economy that play an important role in advancing growth dynamics. Second, determinants influence at a different degree each economy depending on the level of development achieved. As such, there are clear indica﬒ons that policy priori﬒es should be different between developed and developing countries. Third, despite the previous point, there are some basic elements which are deemed important for economic growth independent of the level of development an area exhibits. Key words: economic growth, economic dynamism, determinants, survey, experts’ views Acknowledgements: This paper draws on a wider research project ﬒tled “Dynamic Regions in a Knowledge-Driven Global Economy: Lessons and Policy Implica﬒ons for the European Union” (DYNREG) which is financed by the EU 6-th Framework Program. 1. Introduction O ver the last two decades the determinants of economic growth have a﬐racted increasing a﬐en﬒on in both theore﬒cal and applied research. Yet, the process underlying economic performance is inadequately conceptualised and poorly understood, something, which can be partly a﬐ributed to the lack of a generalised or unifying theory, and the myopic way conven﬒onal economics approach the issue (Artelaris et al, 2007). Despite the lack of a unifying theory, there are several par﬒al theories that discuss the role of various factors in determining economic growth. For instance, the neoclassical perspec﬒ve, which is based on Solow’s growth model, has emphasised the importance of investment and, the more recent, theory of endogenous growth developed by Romer and Lucas has drawn a﬐en﬒on to human capital and innova﬒on capaci﬑. Furthermore, important contribu﬒ons on economic development have been provided by Myrdal’s cumula﬒ve causa﬒on theory, and by the New Economic Geography school. In addi﬒on, other explana﬒ons have highlighted the