While output declined in virtually all transition economies in the initial years, the speed and extent of the recovery … conditions, external factors, and reform strategies. This paper summarizes the macroeconomic performance of the transition …

help us understand how repressive institutions and preferences towards Western European ideas shaped the international …

determinants of household saving rates in transition economies. We find savings rates to increase strongly in relative income and … household in the transition process, notably the sector of employment, plays no significant role in determining savings rates …

Explanations of economic growth and prosperity commonly identify a unique causal effect, e.g., institutions, culture … institutions and their effects on economic activity. We characterize conditions on the socio-economic environment such that culture … and institutions complement (resp. substitute) each other, giving rise to a multiplier effect which amplifies (resp …

We have conducted the first survey on management practices in transition countries. We found that Central Asian … transition countries, such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, have on average very poor management practices. Their average scores are … below emerging countries such as Brazil, China and India. In contrast, the central European transition countries such as …

This paper examines alternative hypotheses concerning the determinants of success in the transition from Communism to … the market. In particular, we look at whether speed of privatization, legal institutions or initial conditions are more … important in explaining the growth of the transition countries in the years since the end of the Cold War. In the mid 90s a …

We revisit the debate over whether political institutions cause economic growth, or whether, alternatively, growth and … establish the proposition that institutions cause growth are constructed to be conceptually unsuitable for that purpose. We also … variety of additional evidence, suggest that a) human capital is a more basic source of growth than are the institutions, b …

opportunities depends on the nature of institutions. When institutions are strong, new opportunities or windfalls can have positive … effects. But when institutions are weak they can have negative effects. We present a simple model to illustrate how … comparative statics are conditional on the nature of institutions and show how this perspective helps to unify a large number of …

Although institutions are believed to be key determinants of economic performance, there is limited evidence on how … variation in the presence of institutions; the difficulty of empirically measuring institutional performance; and the temptation … the complex and multi-faceted subject. We evaluate one attempt to make local institutions more egalitarian by imposing …

transportation improvements converged to create city growth. We assess the impact of institutions on growth by allowing two ways for … institutions to affect growth. Institutions can directly affect growth, or it can impact on trade, which in turn affects growth …. Once we separately quantify the link from institutions to trade, and trade to growth, the independent effect of …