The Postsocialist States in Southeast Europe: Challenges and Dilemmas

The author argues that neo-liberal approach to post-socialist economic transformation and development seriously misinterprets the role of the state. He develops his argument by analysing the experience of Southeast European (SEE) states. He first demonstrates that in order to transform post-socialist state dominated societies into market societies it is not enough to roll-back and decompose the state, since the very constitution of market society is political per se, but a different type of political institutions must be constructed. In the next section he discusses market and democracy dilemma, in order to show that, both in principle and in particular (concerning SEE), expected benefits of their coupling may not come forward, particularly not in a stylised liberal-democratic form. Section three discusses major political-economy dilemma of the postsocialist state – the one between accumulation and legitimation – in order to show that inability to resolve this dilemma may easily compromise transformational politics of marketisation and democratisation. Particularly, lack of growth may lead societies towards experimentation with, potentially even radical, alternatives, thus questioning both sides of the transition equation, that is market and democracy. In the section four demands for the welfare and for the developmental state are discussed and associated challenges to liberal democracy examined. Finally, in the concluding section, the author discusses some conditions for consolidation of marketisation and democratisation in postsocialist societies, particularly those of SEE

MALA PODUZEĆA IZMEĐU MITOVA I STVARNOSTI: POSLJEDICE ZA POLITIKU RAZVOJA

Mala poduzeća u središtu su pažnje ekonomista i političara. Ističe se njihov doprinos inovativnosti, tehnološkom progresu, zaposlenosti te raznolikosti. Upozorava se na opasnosti jednostrane ekonomsko - političke intervencije u prilog malih poduzeća. Pokazuje se da: 1. mnoge su pretpostavke o malim poduzećima bile pretjerane i/ili netočne; 2. velika poduzeća nisu u konačnom silasku s ekonomske scene: umjesto toga riječ je o tehnološkoj, organizacijskoj i strateškoj restrukturaciji; 3. procesi stvaranja fleksibilnih globalnih i nacionalnih mreža poduzeća bitno mijenjaju uobičajene percepcije o "malom" i "velikom" te donose temeljne implikacije za razvojnu politiku i politiku poticanja malih poduzeća. Razmatraju se implikacije za postsocijalističke ekonomije u kontekstu moguće strateške industrijske politike

Some Problems with the Rational Economic Man

U radu se analizira koncept racionalnosti u neoklasičnoj ekonomskoj teoriji. Maksimizirajuće ponašanje ekonomskih aktera moguće je samo kada ovi raspolažu odgovarajućim informacijama i kognitivnim sposobnostima. U (realističnijem) slučaju njihovog izostanka, alternativna pretpostavka je prijeko potrebna: akteri su ograničeno sposobni, a neizvjesnost temeljito određuje kontekst odlučivanja. Razmatra se koncept ograničene racionalnosti. Pokazuje se da ga je moguće integrirati u osnovni neoklasični model, ali i reinteipretirati u institucionalističkom smjeru. Ovaj posljednji naglašava tipičnu nesposobnost aktera da procesiraju sve dostupne informacije: otuda se racionalnost aktera tretira kao adaptivna, dok se model optimizirajućeg aktera odbacuje. U takvom pristupu institucije su endogene procesima odlučivanja. Osobito se naglašava njihova informacijska uloga u složenom okruženju sa kojim se suočavaju akteri. Razumijevanje institucionalne dimenzije ključno je za rekonstrukciju ekonomske teorije, koja će se zasnivati na realističnijim pretpostavkama o samim akterima ekonomskog procesa. Time se ujedno otvaraju i vrata produktivnom dijalogu s drugim društvenim znanostima.The concept of rationality in neoclassical economic theory is analyzed in this paper. Maximizing behavior of economic agents is possible only under some assumptions concerning information availability and agents’ cognitive capabilities. In the (more realistic) case, when they are missing, an alternative assumption is required: agents have limited capabilities and it is uncertainty that fundamentally determines the context of their decision-making. The "bounded rationality" concept is analyzed. It is shown that it can be integrated in the basic neoclassical model, but reinterpreted in an institutionalist direction, too. The institutionalist interpretation stresses the typical inability of economic agents to process all available information: therefore the agents’ rationality is an adaptive one, while a model of an optimizing agent is rejected. In such an approach institutions are endogenous to decision-making processes. Their informational role in the complex environment faced by agents is especially stressed. Understanding the institutional dimension is crucial for a reconstruction of economic theory founded on more realistic assumptions about economic agents themselves. In this way doors are also opened for a productive dialogue with other social sciences

Che Challenges of Real and Subjective Poverty and the Growth of Inequality in the Economies of South Eastern Europe in Transition

From the beginning it was clear that during the transformation, all aspects of economic inequality were likely to be exacerbated and that poverty was likely to emerge. This paper discusses the size and consequences of transformation-generated changes in economic inequality and poverty, both “real” and “subjective”, for future economic growth and the legitimacy of continued transformation in the Mediterranean economies in transformation (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro and Slovenia), which have been expanded to include Romania and Bulgaria. This area is referred to as the “region”