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Breaking the Unbreakable Union: Nationalism, Disintegration and the Soviet Economic Collapse

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  • Marvin Suesse

Abstract

This article investigates the effect of prospective secessions on economic integration and growth by examining the break‐up of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Firstly, I show theoretically how regional elites had an incentive to restrict domestic trade once secession from the Union became possible. Secondly, I show empirically that the increased likelihood of secessions by the Union's member republics strongly cut domestic trade. Thirdly, I show how this explains the severity of the Soviet output fall. These patterns persist once I instrument for prospective secessions with nationalist agendas that are exogenous to trade or growth.

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  • Marvin Suesse, 2018. "Breaking the Unbreakable Union: Nationalism, Disintegration and the Soviet Economic Collapse," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(615), pages 2933-2967, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:econjl:v:128:y:2018:i:615:p:2933-2967
    DOI: 10.1111/ecoj.12564
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    Cited by:

    1. Morelli, Massimo & Esteban, Joan & Flamand, Sabine & Rohner, Dominic, 2020. "A Dynamic Theory of Secessionist vs Centrist Conflict," CEPR Discussion Papers 14635, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Lacroix, Jean & Mitchener, Kris James & Oosterlinck, Kim, 2023. "Domino Secessions: Evidence from the U.S," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 676, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    3. Ekaterina Zhuravskaya & Sergei Guriev & Andrei Markevich, 2024. "New Russian Economic History," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 62(1), pages 47-114, March.
    4. Ani Harutyunyan, 2020. "National Identity and Public Goods Provision," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 62(1), pages 1-33, March.
    5. Inna Čábelková & Luboš Smutka & Svitlana Rotterova & Olesya Zhytna & Vít Kluger & David Mareš, 2022. "The Sustainability of International Trade: The Impact of Ongoing Military Conflicts, Infrastructure, Common Language, and Economic Wellbeing in Post-Soviet Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-14, August.
    6. Catherine Guirkinger & Gani Aldashev & Alisher Aldashev & Mate Fodor, 2022. "Economic Persistence Despite Adverse Policies: Evidence from Kyrgyzstan," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(641), pages 258-272.
    7. Karen Jackson & Oleksandr Shepotylo, 2021. "An examination of EU trade disintegration scenarios," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 2-20, January.
    8. Joan Esteban & Sabine Flamand & Massimo Morelli & Dominic Rohner, 2018. "A Dynamic Theory of Secession," HiCN Working Papers 276, Households in Conflict Network.
    9. Dimitrios Bakas & Karen Jackson & Georgios Magkonis, 2020. "Trade (Dis)integration: The Sudden Death of NAFTA," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 931-943, September.
    10. Joan-Maria Esteban & Sabine Flamand & Massimo Morelli & Dominic Rohner, 2018. "The Survival and Demise of the State: A Dynamic Theory of Secession," Working Papers 1028, Barcelona School of Economics.
    11. Suesse, Marvin, 2019. "Adjusting the size of nations: Empirical determinants of separatism and the Soviet breakup," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 50-64.
    12. Jo Reynaerts & Jakob Vanschoonbeek, 2022. "The economics of state fragmentation: Assessing the economic impact of secession," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(1), pages 82-115, January.

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