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

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

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

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

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

Flessibilità e istituzioni nel mercato del lavoro: dagli economisti classici agli economisti istituzionalisti

The aim of this paper is to explore, through a review of the literature, the wage theory and the institutions of the labor market, in the thought of some classical, institutional, keynesian and marginal economists, whose contribution has been fundamental for the economic theory and for the analysis of the labor market in particular. The objective is to show that, except for the marginal economists, the economic system does not converge spontaneously towards the equilibrium of the labor market, and unemployment positions and rigid wages are empirically prevailing and theoretically justified phenomena. Moreover, the flexibility of the labor market, with respect to both wages and permanent adjustments of labor to firms, does not seem the most appropriate policy which guarantees full employment and greater productivity. On the contrary, such a relation is strongly questioned at theoretical and empirical level.mercato del lavoro, produttività, istituzioni economiche.

Istituzioni economiche e cambiamento istituzionale tra vecchi e nuovi istituzionalisti

Il ruolo delle istituzioni economiche e del loro cambiamento, nell’analisi economica è stato a lungo sottovalutato o ignorato dagli economisti “main stream”. In questo saggio, dopo aver illustrato le necessarie definizioni che concernono l’economia istituzionalista e il loro ruolo nell’economia, presenteremo una rassegna della letteratura istituzionalista, concentrandoci in particolare sul confronto tra la vecchia (Veblen, Commons, Mithchell, ecc) e la nuova economia istituzionalista (Coase, Williamson, North, ecc). L’elemento essenziale che distingue i due approcci è l’individualismo metodologico, a cui la nuova economia istituzionalista rimane legata al contrario della vecchia che lo rifiuta. Questa differenza è fondamentale al fine di ammettere, o meno, la possibilità di processi di massimizzazione da parte degli agenti economici. In seguito affronteremo il delicato problema del cambiamento istituzionale. Infine, presenteremo tre modelli istituzionalisti (Olson et al., 1998; Rodrik, 1999; Jones e Hall, 1998) che, a nostro avviso, evidenziano bene lo stretto legame che esiste tra sviluppo economico da una parte, e governance, istituzioni e gestione del cambiamento istituzionale dall’altra.Il ruolo delle istituzioni economiche e del loro cambiamento, nell’analisi economica è stato a