Utopian socialists believed that socialism is inevitable because it is a more rational system to organize production and life, a system more in line with the “good” nature of human beings. Marxism rejected this reasoning replacing it with what is known as historical materialism: social...

This paper analyzes economic policies in resource rich countries and various mechanisms of resource curse leading to a potentially inefficient use of resources. Arguments are provided in favor of "conditional resource curse" hypothesis: resource abundance hampers growth if institutions of a...

This book presents theoretical and empirical investigation of economic growth and the possible impact of human capital on economic growth in Ukraine, the Russian Federation, Poland, and Hungary during the period of 1989-2009. This research defines place and role of human capital in the process...

This study analyses the role and impact of education on economic growth in the two largest economies of the former Soviet Bloc, namely, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. It attempts to estimate the significance of different educational levels, including secondary and tertiary education, for...

Sachs, Warner (1995) were among the first to claim that «resource curse» is real and that resource abundant economies do indeed grow more slowly than the others. Hundreds of papers were published since then supporting the «resource curse» thesis and offering new explanations of mechanisms...

This book presents theoretical and empirical investigation of the possible impact of human capital on economic growth in transition economies of Ukraine, Russia, Poland, and Hungary during the period of 1990-2007. This research defines place and role of human capital in the process of transition...

This paper focuses on the systematic investigation of the influence of the quasi-experimental projects on possible changes in inequality in access to higher education in Russia. While intuition points toward a positive effect of introduction of the standardized tests and educational vouchers on...

This paper summarizes theoretical arguments and provides empirical evidence to support the statement that rational economic policies depend qualitatively on two factors – technological and institutional level of development of a country. We concentrate on the impact of three policies to...

This paper summarizes theoretical arguments, empirical evidence, and econometric findings to support the statement that rational economic policies depend qualitatively on stages of development that are defined by productivity and institutional indicators of a country. We consider the impact of...

Cross-country regressions, reported in this paper for 1960-99 period, seem to suggest that the accumulation of foreign exchange reserves (FER) contributes to economic growth of a developing economy by increasing both the investment/GDP ratio and capital productivity. We offer the following...