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Culture, democracy, and market reforms: Evidence from transition countries

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  • Tarabar, Danko

Abstract

Transition countries differed widely in the extent to which they implemented market reforms. This paper empirically investigates the role of culture as a potential determinant of market reform adoption among the post-socialist economies of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. I examine an unbalanced panel of up to 21 transition countries over the period 1989–2001 and estimate the relationship between different cultural typologies and the adoption of liberalizing reforms. I report that a sense of individualism and intolerance for unequal dispersion of power within societies are robustly associated with greater market reform efforts. Only limited evidence exists for the influence of other cultural attitudes.

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  • Tarabar, Danko, 2017. "Culture, democracy, and market reforms: Evidence from transition countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 456-480.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:45:y:2017:i:3:p:456-480
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2017.03.005
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Transition; Culture; Market reform; Hofstede; Schwartz; Democratization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • P21 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Planning, Coordination, and Reform
    • P26 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Property Rights
    • P30 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - General
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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