The median voter hypothesis is important to endogenous growth theories because it provides the political mechanisms through which voters in more unequal countries re-distribute a greater proportion of income and thus (it is argued), by blunting incentives, reduce the country's growth rate. But...

The Polish stabilization program implemented in 1990 as part of the transition to capitalism entailed unexpectedly high social costs. The often unstated assumptions had been that since central planning was intrinsically inefficient, stabilization in Poland might be less costly in terms of lost...

Much attention has been paid to the relative vulnerability of two well-defined household groups during the transition. Some observers argue that old-age pensioner households have been relatively protected because of a less steep decline in real pensions compared with wages in most transition...

Some economists have argued that the process of disintegration of the world economy between the two world wars led to income divergence between the countries. This is in keeping with the view that economic integration leads to income convergence. The paper shows that the view that the period...

This paper is devoted largely to a taxonomic discussion of objectives, constraints, and models of divestiture in privatization programs, but the authors also present some concluding observations. The plethora of divestiture options makes choice difficult. From an individual government...

The deep economic crisis that characterized Eastern Europe in the 1980's had a strong impact on average incomes of the population and on the percentage of people living below the poverty line. The situation deteriorated most sharply in Poland, where the percentage of the poor in total population...

The author derives the distribution of individuals'income or expenditures for two years, 1988 and 1993. His is the first paper to calculate world distribution for individuals based entirely on data from household surveys. The data, from 91 countries, are adjusted for differences in purchasing...

The effects of globalization on income distribution in rich and poor countries are a matter of controversy. While international trade theory in its most abstract formulation implies that increased trade and foreign investment should make income distribution more equal in poor countries and less...

The old days in the now transition societies were characterized by stagnant incomes, rationed goods, and few civil liberties, but a high degree of income security. The early days of reform have brought crashing incomes, more goods, civil liberties, and rising insecurity. Most countries are set...

One of the apparent inconsistencies in the breakup of multinational states is that, while the republics justified their decision by claiming they wanted increased sovereignty, the new states'strong desire to join the European Union shows their intention to dissipate this sovereignty. How can the...