Human rights affect basically every area of human activity. They include civil and political rights, which refer to an individual’s rights to participate in the political life. Freedom and participation rights also extend to the cultural, economic, and social spheres, including rights such as access to education, health, and labor. While the exact of effect of basic human rights on economic growth is still a subject of dispute, freedom, participation, property rights as well as equal access to education and health appear to have a positive impact on growth. As an individual’s opportunities grow, they enjoy greater freedom and make better use of their capabilities and resources creating a positive, aggregate effect for the overall economy.

Research shows that the risk of violent protests, riots, and social unrest is higher in countries that are lagging in terms of economic development. Under-development is more likely to cause social unrest which tends to decline with ongoing economic growth and a growing level of happiness. Social conflict, in turn, can impose considerable economic and social costs, weaken state institutions, lead to greater uncertainty, cause political instability and thus impair economic growth.

Corruption has many different shapes and can have various effects, on the economy, the political environment as well as on society in general, as it lowers trust in the government and the rule of law. In the economy, corruption can have negative implications on growth as it affects the business climate, causes higher costs, reduces investment and tax revenues, tilts public spending toward projects that are more susceptible to bribes, and leads to lower quality of public goods and services.

Research shows that institutional organizations matter a great deal in determining a country's economic development and growth. Protection of property rights, effective law enforcement, efficient public administration, civil liberties and a wide range of similar norms appear strongly correlated to a superior economic performance. This results from the positive impact of robust institutions, which tend to reduce transaction costs, as well as risk and uncertainty, while spurring investment and investment return, and hence are likely to increase incomes.

Political risk is broad, multi-faceted and includes features such as government politics, the political and electoral system, and the existence of checks and balances. It is obvious that there is a strong relationship between the political environment and economic development, as businesses, financial markets and the economy as a whole are impacted by a variety of political decisions, such as taxes, government spending, regulations, fiscal and monetary policy, exchange rate and investment controls, labor laws, trade policies and tariffs, or environmental laws.