Popular Attitudes Toward Market Economic Principles and Institutional Reform in Transition Economies

Transition countries display generally low levels of public support for market economic principles during the 1990s-but more successful countries display more support than less successful countries. The attitude difference is not just the result of transition speed or success. Rather, the data suggest that the varying levels of public support toward market economic principles existed initially and are a cause of the distinct transition trajectories. Different historical legacies affected popular attitudes long before the watershed moment of 1990.