IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/pocoec/v16y2004i2p137-152.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Determinants of catching up or falling behind: interaction of formal and informal institutions

Author

Listed:
  • Jan Winiecki

Abstract

The article looks from an institutional perspective at the process of catching up by poorer countries with the level of development already achieved by the richer ones. The author stresses that resources are of secondary importance, relative to the institutional framework conducive to or discouraging economic development. It is from such a perspective that the present writer approaches post-communist transition, noting the existence of leaders and laggards in the process. Differences in outcomes are ascribed, unsurprisingly, to differences in institution-building (both general and specific rules) and, even more importantly, to differences in what the author calls “civilisational fundamentals” of liberty, law and order, and trust. The main thesis is that the fundamentals in question are the heritage of pre-communist past. Therefore, it is the pre-communist heritage, the presence or absence of the fundamentals in question, which largely determine the transition's success or failure.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Winiecki, 2004. "Determinants of catching up or falling behind: interaction of formal and informal institutions," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 137-152.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:pocoec:v:16:y:2004:i:2:p:137-152
    DOI: 10.1080/1463137042000223859
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1463137042000223859
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/1463137042000223859?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Simeon Djankov & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2002. "The Regulation of Entry," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 1-37.
    2. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Katarzyna Metelska‐Szaniawska, 2021. "Post‐socialist constitutions: The de jure–de facto gap, its effects and determinantsa," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(2), pages 175-196, April.
    2. Nikolay Nenovsky & Gergana Mihaylova, 2007. "Dynamics of the Financial Wealth of the Institutional Sectors in Bulgaria for the Period 1990 – 2005," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 4, pages 72-92.
    3. André van Stel & J. Cieslik Cieslik, 2014. "Trends in Business Ownership in Central and East European Transition Economies," Scales Research Reports H201202, EIM Business and Policy Research.
    4. Dimiter Ialnazov & Nikolay Nenovsky, 2010. "The evolution of post-communist countries: An interpretation from the perspective of cooperation," ICER Working Papers 03-2010, ICER - International Centre for Economic Research.
    5. Katarzyna Metelska-Szaniawska & Jacek Lewkowicz, 2021. "Post-socialist “illiberal democracies”: do de jure constitutional rights matter?," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 233-265, June.
    6. Bönisch, Peter & Schneider, Lutz, 2010. "Why are East Germans not More Mobile? Analyzing the Impact of Social Ties on Regional Migration," IWH Discussion Papers 16/2010, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    7. Zweynert, Joachim, 2007. "How can the History of Economic thought Contribute to an Understanding of Institutional Change?," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 29(2), pages 189-211, June.
    8. Mendelski, Martin & Libman, Alexander, 2011. "History matters, but how? An example of Ottoman and Habsburg legacies and judicial performance in Romania," Frankfurt School - Working Paper Series 175, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.
    9. Nikolay NENOVSKY & Kiril TOCHKOV & Camelia TURCU, 2011. "From Prosperity to Depression: Bulgaria and Romania (1996/97 ??? 2010)," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp1018, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    10. Aleksandra Skorupinska & Joan Torrent Sellens, 2014. "Drivers of manufacturing firm's productivity in Germany and Poland: evidence from survey data," Review of Applied Socio-Economic Research, Pro Global Science Association, vol. 7(1), pages 117-124, June.
    11. Geoffrey M. Hodgson, 2006. "Institutions, Recessions and Recovery in the Transitional Economies," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(4), pages 875-894, December.
    12. Jinhua Xie & Gangqiao Yang & Ge Wang & Yaying Zhu & Zhaoxia Guo, 2023. "Substitutes or complements? Exploring the impact of environmental regulations and informal institutions on the clean energy utilization behaviors of farmers," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 3893-3922, May.
    13. Dimiter Ialnazov & Nikolay Nenovsky, 2011. "A Game Theory Interpretation of the Post-Communist Evolution," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(1), pages 41-56.
    14. Petar Chobanov & Amine LAHIANI & Nikolay NENOVSKY, 2010. "Money Market Integration and Sovereign CDS Spreads Dynamics in the New EU States," LEO Working Papers / DR LEO 1253, Orleans Economics Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orleans (LEO), University of Orleans.
    15. Andrew J. Hussey & Michael Jetter & Dianne McWilliam, 2021. "The Fundamental Determinants of Economic Inequality in Average Income Across Countries: The Declining Role of Political Institutions," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 67(1), pages 104-133, March.
    16. Geoffrey M. Hodgson, 2006. "Instituciones, recesiones y recuperación en las economías en transición," Revista de Economía Institucional, Universidad Externado de Colombia - Facultad de Economía, vol. 8(15), pages 43-68, July-Dece.
    17. Aleksandra Skorupinska & Joan Torrent-Sellens, 2017. "ICT, Innovation and Productivity: Evidence Based on Eastern European Manufacturing Companies," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 8(2), pages 768-788, June.
    18. Zweynert, Joachim & Wyszyński, Robert & Polkowski, Andreas, 2006. "Measuring the Attitudes Towards the Extended Order in Latvia, Poland and Russia: The Extended Order Index," HWWA Discussion Papers 350, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWA).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Franklin Allen & Jun & Chenying Zhang & Mengxin Zhao, 2012. "China's Financial System: Opportunities and Challenges," NBER Chapters, in: Capitalizing China, pages 63-143, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Djankov, Simeon & La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei, 2008. "The law and economics of self-dealing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 430-465, June.
    3. Cline, Brandon N. & Williamson, Claudia R. & Xiong, Haoyang, 2021. "Culture and the regulation of insider trading across countries," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    4. Andrei Shleifer & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Rafael La Porta, 2008. "The Economic Consequences of Legal Origins," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(2), pages 285-332, June.
    5. Alvaro CUERVO-CAZURRA & Luis Alfonso DAU, 2008. "Structural Reform And Firm Profitability In Developing Countries," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp940, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    6. Gur Aminadav & Elias Papaioannou, 2020. "Corporate Control around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(3), pages 1191-1246, June.
    7. Agostino, Mariarosaria & Nifo, Annamaria & Trivieri, Francesco & Vecchione, Gaetano, 2016. "Total factor productivity heterogeneity: channelling the impact of institutions," MPRA Paper 72759, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Cuervo-Cazurra, Alvaro & Rui, Huaichuan, 2017. "Barriers to absorptive capacity in emerging market firms," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(6), pages 727-742.
    9. Cline, Brandon N. & Williamson, Claudia R., 2017. "Individualism, democracy, and contract enforcement," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 284-306.
    10. Benito Arruñada, 2010. "Institutional support of the firm: A theory of business registries," Economics Working Papers 1195, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Sep 2010.
    11. Morck, Randall & Deniz Yavuz, M. & Yeung, Bernard, 2011. "Banking system control, capital allocation, and economy performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(2), pages 264-283, May.
    12. Cheng, Bo & Guo, Zhuming & Xiong, Ting & Qiu, Baoyin, 2023. "Does the administrative approval reform impact firm's investment decisions?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 1052-1067.
    13. Douglas Cumming, 2010. "Public policy and the creation of active venture capital markets," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 75-94, April.
    14. Bernard Yeung & Randall Morck & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2004. "Corporate Governance, Economic Entrenchment and Growth," Working Papers 04-21, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
    15. Swamy, Vighneswara, 2014. "Bank regulation, supervision and efficiency during the global financial crisis," MPRA Paper 58295, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. He, Zhongda & Qiao, Guannan & Zhang, Le & Zhang, Wenrui, 2021. "Regulator supervisory power and bank loan contracting," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    17. Gungoraydinoglu, Ali & Öztekin, Özde, 2011. "Firm- and country-level determinants of corporate leverage: Some new international evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 1457-1474.
    18. Khalid Ahmed & Bareerah Khan & Ilhan Ozturk, 2021. "Dynamics between disaggregates of governance and stock market performance in selected South Asia countries," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 802-813, January.
    19. Muhammad Suhail Rizwan & Muhammad Moinuddin & Barbara L’Huillier & Dawood Ashraf, 2018. "Does a one-size-fits-all approach to financial regulations alleviate default risk? The case of dual banking systems," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 53(1), pages 37-74, February.
    20. D'Souza, Juliet & Nash, Robert, 2017. "Private benefits of public control: Evidence of political and economic benefits of state ownership," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 232-247.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:pocoec:v:16:y:2004:i:2:p:137-152. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CPCE20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.