Estonia: a model for interwar Europe?

While Estonia’s 1925 Law on Cultural Self-Government for National Minorities is often cited as a rare functioning example of Renner and Bauer’s non-territorial autonomy scheme, there has until recently been comparatively little research on how the law operated in practice. This article analyses the institutions of German and Jewish minority self-government established in inter-war Estonia, arguing that (prior to the eclipse of democracy in 1934, at least) these possessed considerable depth and authoritative competence in the area of cultural and educational policy. Cultural autonomy did not resolve all outstanding points of division between state, majority and (in particular) Baltic German minority; nevertheless, it played a positive role in the regulation of ethnonational tensions. Even less well-known is the international resonance of this unique law, which transnational minority activists argued should serve as a general model for the regulation of minority disputes. The League of Nations rightly questioned this claim, and the non-territorial autonomy model was scarcely applied beyond the Baltic region during the 1920s. However, it is still instructive to revisit the 1925 law today, at a time when several post-communist states have adopted minority rights legislation based on similar principles

Dominant ethnicity and integration: the Estonian case

From introduction: On October 18-19, 2007, the Tallinn Conference on Conceptualising Integration was held that focused on the Estonian integration policy. While being in the middle of composing the new state programme for the years 2008-2013 at the time of the conference, I’m glad that the conference gave us an opportunity to share our ideas with others and at the same time learn form the experience of other countries

Central places versus networks: the future of collective farms built community infrastructure in Estonia

The aim of this paper will be to discuss possibilities to shift from a central-place theory towards to a network paradigm in local and regional planning practices. According to the first hypothesis, planning and development of social infrastructure (schools, sports halls, etc.) has remained rather central place oriented in Estonia. Even despite high and steadily increasing mobility (due to the rapidly spreading car ownership) and increasing share of city-population. The central-place approach would mean construction of overcapacity on the regional level. The social infrastructure built by the collective farms in rural areas has remained often unused already now, quite often because of the lack of collaboration between communes. The second hypothesis, therefore, argues, that application of the network paradigm and encouraging co-operation between local communes may considerably save public resources, create new jobs close to living estates, and reduce negative consequences of ongoing centre-periphery differentiation processes.

NTA as political strategy in Eastern Europe

Although non-territorial autonomy (NTA) has become an increasingly salient feature of minority politics in Central and Eastern Europe over the past two decades, there has been surprisingly little research exploring the origins of NTA arrangements and the underlying understanding of statehood, state-minority relations, and minority rights that they bring to bear. After a brief introduction to the original Renner and Bauer model, this chapter analyses contemporary NTA debates and practices in Estonia, Hungary, Romania, and Russia, linking the discussion to broader agendas that have informed approaches to minority issues in the region following the fall of communism and the demise of the USSR. In each case, attention is given to the varying perspectives of both state and minority actors with regard to NTA and the extent to which it can be seen as a viable model for addressing varying claims advanced across different political contexts

Foreign banks increase the social orientation of Estonian financial sector

Reconstruction of Estonian banking system started twenty years ago. Estonia built up for the market economy a banking oriented financial sector, which is centred on commercial banks. During the two decades less than ten banks remained from more than 50 licensed commercial banks, the rest were not able to continue independently, they merged or have failed. The bad result of such kind of development was also the excessive concentration of banking. Banking sector in Estonia during the transition period was opened to the invasion of foreign banks due to the openness of the economy and excessive risks taken. Two banking crises, selected quickly the very limited number of prosperous banks, and the major commercial banks went into the ownership of Scandinavian banks. The qualitative effects of foreign banks’ entry into the Estonian banking market were new features of competition in banking market and transfer of various knowhow from foreign banks. Better liquidity risk management techniques, information systems, credit policy and personnel policy transfer from foreign banks supported banks to have high profitability and low credit losses rates. These directions are noticeable also by quantitative analyses of banking market development. The takeover of main commercial banks by the large Swedish and Finnish banks was one of important factors in the gradual increase of the social orientation of Estonian banks however the ideas of social responsibility of enterprises are especially popular in Scandinavia. In our paper we analyse also Estonian banks’ practices of supporting the social development of Estonia. --

Estonian Way to Liberal Economic System

Estonia has adopted the one of the most radical programs of stabilization and transformation amongst not only the former Soviet Union countries but among previously centrally planned economies as well. The commodity and service markets were balanced mainly through the price liberalization and introduction of the internally convertible national currency. This was supplimented with the austerity in public consumption and surpluss in the state budget. The changes were also associated with a radical shift in the foreign trade rearientation. The economy that previously was oriented to almost costless recources from the former Soviet Union and work mostly for the Soviet "markets" seems to be very well adjusted to western markets and broad participation in the world economy.Estonia, liberal economy, transition economy

Social and Political Dimensions of the Eurozone Enlargement in the case of the Baltic States

This Regional Input is a supplement to Ezoneplus Working Paper No. 13 on the Social Dimension of the Eastward Enlargement of the Eurozone. Political transition from authoritarian to democratic society has been extensive in all three Baltic States. The Baltic States are often examined together in political studies despite of the fact that there is much more variation among these countries in the political sphere than in the economic and social spheres. The problems stemming from the political sphere might be even more crucial for EU enlargement because of their relative instability and slow working comparing that to the economic and social concerns. Therefore this study emphasises some major political differences between the Baltic States that should be taken into account when analysing EU eastward enlargement processes. The paper aims to analyze social and political dimensions of eurozone enlargement in the Baltic States emphasizing also negative consequences of transition and integration processes and their possible impact on EU accession.Regional Input, Baltic States, social dimension, political dimension

Effects of education on second births before and after societal transition: Evidence from the Estonian GGS

This article examines the influence of educational attainment and enrolment on second births in Estonia, comparing the patterns before and after the onset of the societal transformation of the 1990s. While many Northern and Western European countries have shown a positive relationship between female education and second births, this pattern has not been found in Central and East European countries. Against that background, Estonia offers an interesting case with noticeably high second birth intensities for highly educated women. In the state socialist period, after controlling for the influence of other characteristics, including the partner's education, women with tertiary education were found to have higher second birth intensity than women from any lower educational strata. In the postsocialist period, the difference has grown smaller, but women with tertiary education still display a significantly higher transition rate to second birth than their counterparts with secondary education. Following the presentation of empirical findings, the article discusses the mechanisms that could underlie the observed relationship between education and fertility decisions in the changing societal context. The analysis employs microdata from the Estonian Generations and Gender Survey (GGS), conducted in 2004-05.economic transition, educational attainment, Estonia, Generations and Gender Survey (GGS), second births

Estonia in transition under the restrictions of European institutional competition

After the fundamental changes of the early 1990s and before Estonia joined the EU, many neo-liberal economists regarded Estonia as their model student - due to the country's economic principles. Economic growth has been positive from 1995 on (except in 1999) until 2007, and above the EU average. During this period, GDP per capita and productivity have grown from just under a third of the EU average to 70 per cent of it in 2007. Today the attitude towards Estonia has slightly changed, because Estonia has involved into global economic crises and in decline stage of local trade cycle simultaneously. The transformation process in Estonia is an extreme case within a number of similar cases in Central and Eastern Europe. After regaining its political independence, Estonia established a liberal and democratic society. Since 1992 Estonia has pursued one of the most liberal trade policies in the world. The state budget is subject to the balanced-budget principle. In as early as 1998, 85% of companies were privatized. The currency board system tied the Estonian currency, the Eesti kroon (EEK), to the German mark (DEM) at a rate of about 8:1. To round the picture off: agricultural subsidies were abolished and a flat income tax rate was introduced. This article seeks to analyze Estonia's transition under the restrictions of European institutional competition in more detail. The first and second part analyses some areas of transition macro- and micro-policies that have been suggested that Estonia applies in order to a) join EU and b) catch up within the EU. The third part deals with Estonia's position in international economic competition up to the present time. We define Estonia's strong and weak points in system competition today as result the transition policy. As can be shown, there is still a great need for convergence in economic performance compared to the EU average. --Institutional economics,transformation,economic integration,Estonia