Regional Human Development in transition economics: the role of institutions

The aim of this paper is to analyse regional difference yield in terms of Human Development (HD) in Poland. During transition, western Polish regions grew more than eastern regions, and differences in terms of GDP per capita are evident. Nevertheless, higher GDP per capita in the West did not produce a higher level of non-income dimension indicators (i.e., Education and Life expectancy). On the contrary eastern regions, although they have a lower level of GDP per capita, have a higher level of non-income dimension indicators. This contradicts a neoclassical argument of considering HD as a proxy of GDP per capita. GDP growth is not a sufficient condition for HD. Along with GDP growth HD requires investments in social dimensions.Regional Disparities, Human Development, Transition economics, Poland.

Varieties of Capitalism and Responses to the Financial Crisis: the European Social Model versus the US Model

The objective of this paper is to show how European Union (EU), which employs different varieties of capitalism, and US, which operates based on a competitive capitalist model, are coping with the current economic crisis. Although EU is fragmented and needs to work towards better and deeper integration among member states, the main features of the European Social Model (ESM) allows for a more sustainable recovery and lessens the social costs. A new index was developed in this paper: the Synthetic Vulnerability Index; which shows that the US position is worse than the Eurozone position in terms of recovery from the current crisis and of exposure to further crises. Nevertheless, current financial reforms, both in the US and EU seem to be insufficient and the recent fiscal austerity measures seem to be moving the economies in the wrong direction.Financial crisis, Varieties of capitalism, EU social model

Institutional Change and Governance Indexes in Transition Economies: the case of Poland

In the former communist countries, institutional change, i.e. transition towards market economy, is affected not only by introduction of law and formal institutions (change "by design"), but also by social norms, old values and habits (informal institutions). I present an empirical paper focusing on transition of the Polish Economy. I used a questionnaire which was administered to a sample of about 1000 Polish firms in order to verify the impact of economic institutions on the "residual productivity". Throughout the questionnaire I built six governance indexes. Then I tested the impact of the governance indexes on the productivity of firms. I observed that the economic performance of the eastern regions of Poland, where governance indexes are worse than western, are poorer than that of the western regions of Polandformal and informal economic institutions, trust, transition economics, governance indexes, productivity

Global Imbalances, Declining Hegemony and the Need for a New Global Governance

The objective of the paper is to show that the recovery from the current economic crisis in US and in EU requires a new policy paradigm and a new global governance. I argue that, contrary to the recent austerity policies in EU and US, a new level of government involvement is required in order to keep aggregate demand stable, make full employment possible, and create a transparent financial sector, serving the real economy and encouraging productive investments. Moreover, at global level, two main issues seem to affect negatively the markets: first the lack of an independent international currency, and second the instability of one of the biggest market, the Eurozone. The first needs a wider international solution, the latter needs a political responses at EU level in order to deepen integrationglobal imbalances, global governance, international currency

The determinants of economic growth in emerging economies: a comparative analysis

Abstract. Over the past decade, most emerging and transition economies are experiencing fast growth, which is above the world average, and a consistent institutional change. The aim of this paper is twofold. First of all, a cross-country analysis of a group of emerging and transition economies in the period 1999-2005 will be carried out in order to understand what determines such growth among these countries. Secondly, a comparative analysis will be carried out. The countries will be classified according to their socio-economic models and institutional variables. Countries will be classified by taking their financial structures and ownership control over firms into consideration (Levine and Kunt, 1999; La Porta et. al., 1999), and we will investigate whether institutions and the type of socio-economic model may have an impact on growth. The central hypothesis of the paper is that explaining economic growth is a complex issue which needs positive interaction of several socio-economic and institutional factors. My analysis suggests that countries can grow with their own “style of capitalism” and economic model, and the determinants of economic growth seem to be the ability of each country to associate appropriate governance and institutions with education level, export activity and non-income dimensions of human development (life expectancy growth and infant mortality reduction). In fact, countries which experienced an increase in non-income dimensions of human development during 1970-2000,as a consequence of appropriate institutions, have sustained economic growth.economic growth, institutions, human development

Institutions, Famine and Inequality

In this paper we analyze whether and which political institutions are important for famine prevention and for keeping the levels of inequality low. While famines are sudden crises hitting a country, inequality is a structural problem. As a consequence, the institutions needed might be very different. The econometric exercises realized on a group of emerging and developing countries confirm the validity of Amartya Sen’s “democracy prevents famine” argument, while democracy is not a significant determinant of income inequality. These results are in line with previous ones, suggesting an unclear role of democratic institutions in facing other structural problems, such as hunger and poverty. Moreover, two main institutional indicators, computed by the World Bank, “control of corruption” and “government effectiveness” are negatively correlated with famine mortality, suggesting that the policy environment, the level of bureaucracy, governmental capacity to take decisions and implement them in a short period are relevant factors for reducing famine mortality. In contrast, political stability explains better income inequality in our sample of countries. Social peace and cohesion are deterrent for inequality, but the direction of the relationship should be investigated further.Famine; Inequality; Institutions; Democracy; Cross-country analysis

The Determinants of Economic Growth in Emerging Economies: a Comparative Analysis

Over the past decade, most emerging and transition economies are experiencing fast growth, which is above the world average, and a consistent institutional change. The aim of this paper is twofold. First of all, a cross-country analysis of a group of emerging and transition economies in the period 1999-2005 will be carried out in order to understand what determines such growth among these countries. Secondly, a comparative analysis will be carried out. The countries will be classified according to their socio-economic models and institutional variables. Countries will be classified by taking their financial structures and ownership control over firms into consideration (Levine and Kunt, 1999; La Porta et. al., 1999), and we will investigate whether institutions and the type of socio-economic model may have an impact on growth. The central hypothesis of the paper is that explaining economic growth is a complex issue which needs positive interaction of several socio-economic and institutional factors. My analysis suggests that countries can grow with their own “style of capitalism” and economic model, and the determinants of economic growth seem to be the ability of each country to associate appropriate governance and institutions with education level, export activity and non-income dimensions of human development (life expectancy growth and infant mortality reduction). In fact, countries which experienced an increase in non-income dimensions of human development during 1970- 2000, as a consequence of appropriate institutions, have sustained economic growt

Institutional Change and Governance Indexes in Transition Economies: the case of Poland

In the former communist countries, institutional change, i.e. transition towards market economy, is affected not only by introduction of law and formal institutions (change "by design"), but also by social norms, old values and habits (informal institutions). I present an empirical paper focusing on transition of the Polish Economy. I used a questionnaire which was administered to a sample of about 1000 Polish firms in order to verify the impact of economic institutions on the "residual productivity". Throughout the questionnaire I built six governance indexes. Then I tested the impact of the governance indexes on the productivity of firms. I observed that the economic performance of the eastern regions of Poland, where governance indexes are worse than western, are poorer than that of the western regions of Polan

Social movement theory and far right organizations

This research examines the organized far right movement and interviews members of four right wing organizations to understand their goals and operations. This study compares the utility of two social movement theories, Resource Mobilization Theory (RMT) and New Social Movement Theory (NSMT) to explain the functioning of the four organizations. Resource Mobilization Theory contends that change is done politically in the sphere of institutional power, while New Social Movement Theory argues that change occurs in civil society. The study was qualitative in nature and involved in-depth interviews with 97 members of four far right organizations across two Midwest states. The research hypothesis for this study is that RMT will better explain the nature of all four right organizations than NMST. Three of the four organizations were better explained by RMT. They had highly sophisticated and hierarchical organizational structures with limited membership, aggressive forms of resource attainment through membership dues, and varying levels of political and/or legal mobilization such as lobbying, involvement with local, state, and federal political campaigns, running candidates for school board or political office, and legal challenges through the courts. One of the four organizations tended to be better explained by RMT, but up to one-third of its members answered questions in manner consistent with NSMT. This finding was explained by the fact that the organization was an affiliate of a head branch, and therefore had limited autonomy. It relied significantly on the chief branch to direct its policies, and several of its members appeared to have less experience or knowledge of political and legal issues

Racist intelligentsia: Pathway to the far right\u27s epistemology.

This study attempts to explain the nature of the far right movement in terms debate between Resource Mobilization Theory and New Social Movement Theory. To gain a more comprehensive analysis of the far right movement, it was necessary to combine the interviewing of one organization with content analysis of four other far right organizations\u27 literature. Apart from one organization that was based in the United States, all other groups were Canadian. Although the study was organized to study the far right movement in the Canadian context, it was necessary to include the American organization because the interviewed Canadian Ku Klux Klan sect is affiliated with it. Before an examination of the far right can proceed, it is imperative that two issues, are assessed in relation to it. A study of racism, in terms of how it has thrived socially and politically in its historical and contemporary dimensions, offers the reader an understanding of conditions that have allowed the far right to emerge. As well, an assessment of the history of the far right movement in Canada serves a descriptive function and will help in showing how the wider society, particularly the political and legal spheres, have allowed the far right to emerge and sustain itself. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1997 .T695. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 39-02, page: 0415. Adviser: Subhas Ramcharan. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1998