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The Divergent Postcommunist Paths to Democracy and Economic Freedom

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  • Simeon Djankov

    (Peterson Institute for International Economics)

  • Owen Hauck

    (Peterson Institute for International Economics)

Abstract

This paper presents evidence from 29 postcommunist countries that the economic transition has been more successful than the political transformation in the quarter century since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The adoption of strong parliamentarian systems has countered the adverse effects of religious and imperial history on economic evolution. As a result, the divergence in democracy and political rights is 4 to 5 times larger than the divergence in the path toward economic freedom and ease of doing business. Democracy is not harder to predict than economic freedom—history and ethnicity predict it well. But recent authoritarian regressions in Hungary and Poland, countries with successful economic reforms and strong parliamentarian systems, present a new challenge to researchers.

Suggested Citation

  • Simeon Djankov & Owen Hauck, 2016. "The Divergent Postcommunist Paths to Democracy and Economic Freedom," Working Paper Series WP16-10, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:iie:wpaper:wp16-10
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    Cited by:

    1. Alícia Adserà & Francesca Dalla Pozza & Sergei Guriev & Lukas Kleine-Rueschkamp & Elena Nikolova, 2021. "Height and well-being during the transition from plan to market," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 36(105), pages 77-120.
    2. Adserà, Alicia & Dalla Pozza, Francesca & Guriev, Sergei & Kleine-Rueschkamp, Lukas & Nikolova, Elena, 2019. "Transition, height and well-being," GLO Discussion Paper Series 404, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Adsera, Alicia & Dalla Pozza, Francesca & Guriev, Sergei & Kleine-Rueschkamp, Lukas & Nikolova, Elena, 2019. "Transition from Plan to Market, Height and Well-Being," IZA Discussion Papers 12658, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Elodie Douarin, 2021. "Institutional Change in Transition: An Evolving Research Agenda," Springer Books, in: Elodie Douarin & Oleh Havrylyshyn (ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Comparative Economics, edition 1, chapter 17, pages 429-457, Springer.
    5. Djankov, Simeon & Jolevski, Filip, 2020. "The post-communist transition at 30," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118920, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic Freedom; Ease of Doing Business; Democracy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • P26 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Property Rights
    • P52 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Studies of Particular Economies

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