This paper introduces labor market transition as an intervening process by which the macro institutional transition to a market economy alters social stratification outcome. Rather than directly addressing income distribution, it examines the pattern of workers’ entry into self-employment in...

I explore the extent to which insufficient labor market flexibility is an important factor causing Central and East European (CEE) economies to perform worse than they could and hence slowing down their readiness to enter the European Union. My conclusion is that labor market flexibility is an...

Did the Soviet institution of job rights, guaranteed employment despite individual or firm performance, survive the initial stages of transition in the Russian economy? This paper employs survey data collected in 1992 and 1995 to evaluate the extent to which job rights continued to influence the...

Most exchange of farm land in rural china is conducted by local governments rather than by decentralized land markets. We investigate the forces determining the reallocation behavior of village governments, and hence the formation of the right "security of tenure". We also examine the...

Economists have used cross-national regression analysis to argue that postcommunist economic failure is the result of inadequate adherence liberal economic policies. Sociologists have relied on case study data to show that postcommunist economic failure is the outcome of too close adherence to...

The impact of FDI on total factor productivity in Hungary during the 1990s' is assessed with a large enterprise panel. Foreign equity is associated with higher productivity levels and has a substantial, positive spillover effect on aggregate TFP growth. However, this benefit is significant only...

Nationbuilders in less developed countries need to understand how Western legal systems with "property" at their center have materially accounted for Western prosperity and liberty, but legal definitions of property are so abstruse that explication of this vital concept is made difficult. This...

We analyze investment behavior of the population of medium and large industrial firms located in the Czech Republic in 1992-95. We examine the relevance of alternative models of investment and test if investment behavior varies across ownership-legal form categories of firms. By using a large...

In unequal societies, the rich might benefit from shaping economic institutions into their favor. This paper analyzes the dynamics of institutional subversion focusing on one particular institution, public protection of property rights. If this institution is imperfect, agents have incentives to...

Are property rights obtained through legally dubious means forever tainted with original sin or can rightholders make their ill-gotten gains legitimate by doing good works?2 This is a critical question for developing countries (and Russia in particular) where privatization is often opaque and...