Law accounts for the difference. Advanced societies unlock resources and put them to use. Third-World countries do not. Often, Third-World land titles and laws establishing and protecting them don't exist. By contrast, beginning late in the 11th century, common law focused on land.
Tribal rules control.
Usually, that means a head man or chief controls occupation of land. In early England, landowners could borrow and use funds while continuing to use land. Tribal rules aren't bankable. In Africa, Asia and other areas, the formal economy, where people own homes and use banks, includes perhaps one person in 10. For the rest, the economy is customary.