Institutional Convergence – Theoretical Foundations and Existing Empirical Research

Institutional convergence is a new challenge in economic and social practice. In general, the understanding of this type of convergence is unclear, and the most appropriate understanding is related to the convergence processes of economic and political institutions, the “rules of the game”, the regulations that exist in the integration society and determine the behavior of economic subjects. In this sense, the purpose of the article is to bring greater clarity to the understanding of institutional convergence, because knowledge about it in Bulgarian and global scientific literature is scarce and quite limited. The object of the study is the institutional convergence and the subject is an analysis of the concept and a theoretical overview of the empirical studies presented on it. Finally, it is noted that studies on institutional convergence, which are more or less successful, are evidence of the economic significance of the phenomenon. Thanks to the theoretical understandings in the study of institutional convergence, it is also possible to develop the appropriate policy. The efforts to reduce disproportions and eliminate the forces that cause them are aimed at the convergence of the economic and political institutions which lead to economic development in the integration society.