Microeconomic Aspects of Economic Growth in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, 1950-2000

The theme of this paper is the microeconomics of economic growth in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Newly Independent States (NIS) over the period 1950-2000. The key structural change in this region is the end of the socialist regime in 1989 and 1992, and the subsequent attempt at transition to a market economy. We begin the paper with an examination of the key legacies from the socialist period. We then examine the key microeconomic actors in transition economies: households, enterprises, and government officials. Although there are many common processes at work, differences in economic performance tend to coincide with the geographical divide. Legacies play an important part. We also argue that differences in openness also plays an important role in generating different outcomes. These factors, combined with defects in the political and legal system, have given rise to a vicious circle of resistance to reform in the NIS.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39732/3/wp348.pd

A Model of Russia's "Virtual Economy"

The Russian Economy has evolved into a hybrid form, a partially monetized quasi-market system that has been called the virtual economy. In the virtual economy, barter and non-monetary transactions play a key role in transferring value from the productive activities to the loss-making sectors of the economy. We show how this transfer takes place, and how it can be consistent with the incentives of economic agents. We analyze a simple partial-equilibrium model of the virtual economy, and show how it might prove an obstacle to industrial restructuring and hence marketizing transition.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39701/3/wp317.pd

How is family support related to students' GPA scores? A longitudinal study

Previous studies of the influence of family support on college students' academic performance have yielded inconsistent results. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the link between family support and students' university-level academic performance in a more detailed way. First, we sought to clarify how two distinct aspects of perceived family support-social support and economic support-affect college students' academic performance. Second, we sought to determine how these two aspects of family support influence not only cumulative GPA scores but also the overall trend (slope) and stability (variability) of students' GPA scores across semesters. The participants in this longitudinal study were 240 university students (62 men, 178 women). The results revealed that the level of perceived family social support was important not only as a "main effect" predictor of the magnitude and stability of the students' GPA scores across three successive semesters, but also as a factor that helped female students to succeed regardless of their level of family economic support. In general, the data suggest that family social support is more important to women's success in college than to men's

Stability and Disorder: An Evolutionary Analysis of Russia's Virtual Economy

The hybrid system that the Russian transition has evolved into has been called the virtual economy. This paper analyzes the evolution of the virtual economy. We pay particular attention to the interaction of economic reform policies and the adaptive behavior of enterprise directors. We then analyze the implications of the virtual economy for Russia's stability and development, and place the evolution of the virtual economy into the larger international security context.

Reputation and the Soft-Budget Constraint

We study the role of reputation in dealing with the soft-budget constraint. We examine whether the reputation of a borrower can lead to repayment in an environment where enforcement is weak. We also introduce lenders’ reputation and examine how this impacts on the allocation of borrowers. We find that reputation can harden budget constraint and improve welfare, although it can never fully eliminate softness. We also show that lenders who acquire a reputation for being tough can earn higher profits than lenders with reputations for being soft.

Microeconomic Aspects of Economic Growth in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, 1950-2000

The theme of this paper is the microeconomics of economic growth in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Newly Independent States (NIS) over the period 1950-2000. The key structural change in this region is the end of the socialist regime in 1989 and 1992, and the subsequent attempt at transition to a market economy. We begin the paper with an examination of the key legacies from the socialist period. We then examine the key microeconomic actors in transition economies: households, enterprises, and government officials. Although there are many common processes at work, differences in economic performance tend to coincide with the geographical divide. Legacies play an important part. We also argue that differences in openness also plays an important role in generating different outcomes. These factors, combined with defects in the political and legal system, have given rise to a vicious circle of resistance to reform in the NIS.

Corporate Charter of the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota. Ratified April 24, 1937.

This Corporate Charter, submitted April 1, 1937 by United States (US) Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes to the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold Reservation for ratification, lays out the corporate and economic rights of the Tribes as an autonomous group. The charter was ratification by the Tribes on August 7, 1937 and certified by tribal chairman Arthur Mandan and superintendent in charge of the reservation W. R. Beyer.https://commons.und.edu/indigenous-gov-docs/1043/thumbnail.jp

Demand behavior and empathic accuracy in observed conflict interactions in couples

The study reported in this research note sought to extend the research on motivated empathic accuracy by exploring whether intimate partners who are highly motivated to induce change in their partner during conflicts will be more empathically accurate than partners who are less motivated. In a laboratory experiment, the partners within 26 cohabiting couples were randomly assigned the role of conflict initiator. The partners provided questionnaire data, participated in a videotaped conflict interaction, and completed a video-review task. More blaming behavior was associated with higher levels of empathic accuracy, irrespective of whether one was the conflict initiator or not. The results also showed a two-way interaction indicating that initiators who applied more pressure on their partners to change were less empathically accurate than initiators who applied less pressure, whereas their partners could counter this pressure when they could accurately read the initiator's thoughts and feelings

Radical Immersion in the Work of Melvin Van Peebles, Isaac Julien, and Steve Mcqueen

My dissertation theorizes immersion as a Black radical aesthetic. More specifically, it traces how transatlantic filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles and a subsequent generation of transatlantic artists and filmmakers, notably Isaac Julien and Steve McQueen, use immersion to both visualize the lateral, interconnected relations of what Édouard Glissant would call “creolization” and explore how Blackness, as an aesthetics and politics, occupies the position of object within, rather than distanced from, the scene. Standing in sharp contrast to the dominant understanding of moving-image immersion as an agent of late capital, Van Peebles’s landmark film Sweet Sweetback’s Baadassssss Song (1971), Julien’s three-channel installation Baltimore (2003), McQueen’s first feature-length film Hunger (2008) and his installation Western Deep (2002) chart an alternative version of immersion in the movie theater or museum, a model of space and relations that transgresses, condenses, and ultimately creolizes the space separating spectatorial subject from displayed object. In so doing, these works imagine another world, a creolized world out from under the hierarchical order of our current one