Liberalization, democracy and economic performance during transition
Abstract
This paper analyzes the inter-relations between economic and political processes during transition in 25 post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The main findings are the following: First, economic liberalization generally has positive effect on growth even when controlling for initial conditions. The effect is U-shaped during the contraction and linear during the recovery, but in both periods complete liberalization is superior to no liberalization. Second, democracy has a negative effect on growth during the contraction, whereas its effect appears insignificant during the recovery. Third, economic performance is a strong determinant of support for the reform in elections: support for the reform falls with unemployment and increases with economic growth, output level relative to 1989, and, surprisingly, inflation. Finally, economic liberalization per se increases opposition against the reform, as the costs of the reform apparently go beyond deteriorating economic performance. The level of democracy, in contrast, increases the support for the reform. --Download Info
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Paper provided by ZEI - Center for European Integration Studies, University of Bonn in its series ZEI Working Papers with number B 05-2000.Length:
Date of creation: 2000
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:zbw:zeiwps:b052000
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Related research
Keywords: Democracy; Economic Liberalization; Economic Performance; voting;Find related papers by JEL classification:
- O11 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
- P26 - Economic Systems - - Socialist Systems and Transition Economies - - - Political Economy
- P27 - Economic Systems - - Socialist Systems and Transition Economies - - - Performance and Prospects
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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- Campos, Nauro F, 2000. "Back to the Future: the Growth Prospects of Transition Economies Reconsidered," CEPR Discussion Papers 2654, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
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Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Nauro F. Campos & Abrizio Coricelli, 2002.
"Growth in Transition: What We Know, What We Don't, and What We Should,"
Journal of Economic Literature,
American Economic Association, vol. 40(3), pages 793-836, September.
- Nauro F. Campos & Fabrizio Coricelli, 2002. "Growth in Transition: What We Know, What We Don't, and What We Should," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 470, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
- Campos, Nauro F & Coricelli, Fabrizio, 2002. "Growth in Transition: What we Know, What we Don't and What we Should," CEPR Discussion Papers 3246, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Bernd Hayo, 2001. "On Democratization and Economic Conditions in Eastern Europe," Development and Comp Systems 0106001, EconWPA.
- de Haan, Jakob & Sturm, Jan-Egbert, 2003. "Does more democracy lead to greater economic freedom? New evidence for developing countries," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 547-563, September.
- Lundström, Susanna, 2002. "Decomposed Effects of Democracy on Economic Freedom," Working Papers in Economics 74, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
- Andreas Freytag, 2002. "Accession to EMU and exchange rate policies in Central Europe - decision under institutional constraints," Bank of Estonia Working Papers 2002-1, Bank of Estonia, revised 12 Oct 2002.
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