IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/943.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Role of Political Constraints in Transition Strategies

Author

Listed:
  • Roland, Gérard

Abstract

This paper trys to clarify the political economy arguments underlying the big bang and the gradualist approach to economic transition. The big bang approach emphasizes the importance of windows of opportunity when ex ante political constraints are less binding, whereas gradualist programmes are defended because of their higher ex ante political feasibility. Both approaches aim at achieving irreversibility, but through different means. The big bang approach emphasizes how speed in reforms may constrain a successor government, whereas the gradualist approach tries to design the sequencing of reforms so as to build, at each stage of transition, constituencies for further reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Roland, Gérard, 1994. "The Role of Political Constraints in Transition Strategies," CEPR Discussion Papers 943, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:943
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=943
    Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org
    ---><---

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

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. M. Dewatripont & G. Roland, 1992. "Economic Reform and Dynamic Political Constraints," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 59(4), pages 703-730.
    2. Dewatripont, Mathias & Roland, Gerard, 1995. "The Design of Reform Packages under Uncertainty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(5), pages 1207-1223, December.
    3. Kevin M. Murphy & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1992. "The Transition to a Market Economy: Pitfalls of Partial Reform," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(3), pages 889-906.
    4. Dewatripont, M & Roland, G, 1992. "The Virtues of Gradualism and Legitimacy in the Transition to a Market Economy," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 102(411), pages 291-300, March.
    5. Roland, Gerard, 1994. "On the Speed and Sequencing of Privatisation and Restructuring," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(426), pages 1158-1168, September.
    6. Bertocchi, Graziella & Spagat, Michael, 1997. "Structural uncertainty and subsidy removal for economies in transition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(9), pages 1709-1733, December.
    7. Roland, Gerard & Verdier, Thierry, 1994. "Privatization in Eastern Europe : Irreversibility and critical mass effects," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 161-183, June.
    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. John S. Earle & Scott Gehlbach, 2003. "A Spoonful of Sugar: Privatization and Popular Support for Reform in the Czech Republic," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(1), pages 1-32, March.
    2. repec:lic:licosd:32312 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Micael Castanheira, 2003. "Public finance and the optimal speed of transition," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 11(3), pages 435-462, September.
    4. Pasquale Tridico, 2013. "Values, Institutions, and Models of Institutional Change in Transition Economies," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(3), pages 6-27.
    5. Lyons, Robert & Rausser, Gordon & Simon, Leo, 1996. "Putty-Clay Politics in Transition Economies," CUDARE Working Papers 198638, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    6. Michalska, Grazyna & Goodhue, Rachael & Small, Arthur, 1995. "Implications of Gatt for Eastern Europe and the Baltics," CUDARE Working Papers 201478, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    7. Bernhard Reinsberg & Thomas Stubbs & Alexander Kentikelenis, 2022. "Compliance, defiance, and the dependency trap: International Monetary Fund program interruptions and their impact on capital markets," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), pages 1022-1041, October.
    8. Kornai, János, 1996. "Négy jellegzetesség. A magyar fejlődés politikai gazdaságtani megközelítésben. Második rész [Four characteristic features. Development in Hungary from the aspect of political economy - II]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 1-29.
    9. Nikola Najman & Petr Rozmahel & Ludek Kouba & Ladislava Grochová, 2013. "Integration of Central and Eastern European Countries: Increasing EU Heterogeneity? WWWforEurope Working Paper No. 9," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 46856.
    10. Kym Anderson & Gordon Rausser & Johan Swinnen, 2013. "Political Economy of Public Policies: Insights from Distortions to Agricultural and Food Markets," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(2), pages 423-477, June.
    11. Maw, James, 2002. "Partial privatization in transition economies," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 271-282, September.
    12. Schmitz, P. Michael & Noeth, Cornelia, 1997. "Institutional and Organizational Forces Shaping the Agricultural Transformation Process: Experiences, Causes and Implications," 1997 Conference, August 10-16, 1997, Sacramento, California 197042, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Digdowiseiso, Kumba, 2010. "The transition of China and Ussr: A political economy perspective," MPRA Paper 22561, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Erjon Luci & Marta Muco & Peter Sanfey, 2001. "Stabilization, monetary policy and financial institutions in Albania," wiiw Balkan Observatory Working Papers 16, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    15. Randolph Luca Bruno, 2006. "Optimal speed of transition with a shrinking labour force and under uncertainty," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 14(1), pages 69-100, March.
    16. Matija Rojec & Janez Sustersic & Bostjan Vasle & Marijana Bednas & Slavica Jurancic, 2004. "The rise and decline of gradualism in Slovenia," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(4), pages 459-482.
    17. Hillman, Arye L. & Ursprung, Heinrich W., 1996. "The political economy of trade liberalization in the transition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(3-5), pages 783-794, April.
    18. ELLMAN, Michael, 2012. "What Did the Study of Transition Economies Contribute to Mainstream Economics?," RRC Working Paper Series Special_issue_no.2, Russian Research Center, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    19. Litwack, John M. & Qian, Yingyi, 1998. "Balanced or Unbalanced Development: Special Economic Zones as Catalysts for Transition," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 117-141, March.
    20. Gerard Rpland, 2001. "The Political Economy of Transition," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 413, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    21. John Litwack & Yingyi Qian, "undated". "Balanced or Unbalanced Development: Special Economic Zones as Catalysts for Transition," Working Papers 97044, Stanford University, Department of Economics.
    22. Kornai, János, 1995. "Négy jellegzetesség. A magyar fejlődés politikai gazdaságtani megközelítésben. Első rész [Four characteristic features. Development in Hungary from the aspect of political economy. First Part]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(12), pages 1097-1117.
    23. Randolph Luca Bruno, 2003. "Speed of Transition, Unemployment Dynamics and Nonemployment Policies: Evidence from the Visegrad Countries," LEM Papers Series 2003/23, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    24. John Marangos, 2005. "A Political Economy Approach to the Neoclassical Gradualist Model of Transition," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(2), pages 263-293, April.
    25. Wunner, Norbert, 1996. "Trade liberalization during transition: A political economy perspective," Discussion Papers, Series II 298, University of Konstanz, Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) 178 "Internationalization of the Economy".

    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. Johnson, Simon & Kouvelis, Panos & Sinha, Vikas, 1997. "On Reform Intensity under Uncertainty," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 297-321, December.
    2. Xie, Yinxi & Xie, Yang, 2017. "Machiavellian experimentation," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 685-711.
    3. Che, Jiahua & Facchini, Giovanni, 2004. "Dual Track Liberalization: With and Without Losers," Working Papers 04-0100, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    4. Ichiro Iwasaki & Taku Suzuki, 2016. "Radicalism Versus Gradualism: An Analytical Survey Of The Transition Strategy Debate," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 807-834, September.
    5. Hao Zhang & Fernanda Ilhéu, 2014. "The Role of Special Economic Zones in African Countries. Development and the Chinese FDI," CEsA Working Papers 129, CEsA - Centre for African and Development Studies.
    6. Sweder J. G. van Wijnbergen & Tim Willems, 2016. "Learning Dynamics and Support for Economic Reforms: Why Good News Can Be Bad," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 30(1), pages 1-23.
    7. Gerard Rpland, 2001. "The Political Economy of Transition," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 413, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    8. Campos, Nauro F. & Horváth, Roman, 2006. "Reform Redux: Measurement, Determinants and Reversals," IZA Discussion Papers 2093, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Fluck, Zsuzsanna & John, Kose & Abraham Ravid, S., 1996. "Privatizing in stages and the dynamics of ownership structure," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 4(2-3), pages 277-296, July.
    10. Hans J. Czap & Kanybek D. Nur-tegin, 2011. "Big Bang vs. Gradualism – A Productivity Analysis," EuroEconomica, Danubius University of Galati, issue 29, pages 38-56, August.
    11. Francesco Caselli & Nicola Gennaioli, 2008. "Economics and Politics of Alternative Institutional Reforms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(3), pages 1197-1250.
    12. Bruszt, Laszlo & Campos, Nauro F., 2018. "Economic Integration and State Capacity: Evidence from the Eastern Enlargement of the European Union," IZA Discussion Papers 11782, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Mehlum, Halvor, 2001. "Capital accumulation, unemployment, and self-fulfilling failure of economic reform," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 291-306, August.
    14. Saul Estrin & Jan Hanousek & Evzen Kocenda & Jan Svejnar, 2009. "The Effects of Privatization and Ownership in Transition Economies," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(3), pages 699-728, September.
    15. Micael Castanheira & Gaëtan Nicodème & Paola Profeta, 2012. "On the political economics of tax reforms: survey and empirical assessment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 19(4), pages 598-624, August.
    16. Roland, Gerard & Sekkat, Khalid, 2000. "Managerial career concerns, privatization and restructuring in transition economies," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 1857-1872, December.
    17. Bertocchi, Graziella & Spagat, Michael, 1997. "Structural uncertainty and subsidy removal for economies in transition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(9), pages 1709-1733, December.
    18. Lyons, Robert F. & Rausser, Gordon C. & Simon, Leo K., 1996. "Putty-clay politics in transition economies," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt0t30p88v, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    19. Fidrmuc, Jan & Karaja, Elira, 2013. "Uncertainty, informational spillovers and policy reform: A gravity model approach," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 182-192.
    20. Doh-Shin Jeon & Joel Shapiro, 2004. "Downsizing, Job Insecurity, and Firm Reputation," Working Papers 144, Barcelona School of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Eastern Europe; Political Economy; Sequencing; Transition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H89 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - Other
    • P50 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - General

    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:cpr:ceprdp:943. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cepr.org .

    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.