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Abstract
The main aim of the paper is to explore the nature and consequences of intangible cultural
capital, i.e., the local ‘milieu’ comprising inter alia attitudes and preferences, for the case
study of Greece, 2002-2009. To pursue this study empirically, we combine basic economic and
social indicators from two main sources: the EUROSTAT Regional Database and the European
Social Survey (ESS). Employing a three-stage least squares (3SLS) model for both a normal and
a pooled cross-sectional data set, we find that local cultural factors play an important role in
the emergence and existence of spatial economic disparities in Greece. Most interestingly,
among all the approximations of intangible cultural capital examined, the historical cultural
variable appeared to show the most consistent results throughout all specifications. This suggests
the existence of cultural persistence traits in local economic development in Greece, a
phenomenon which merits further investigation.