Resolution, Recovery and Survival: The Evolution of Payment Disputes in Post-Socialist Europe

What determines the mechanism chosen to resolve a commercial dispute? To what degree does the aggrieved recover damages? And does the relationship survive in the aftermath? The answers to these questions affect expectations as to the costs of transacting and, thereby, the development of markets. But they have received almost no attention in the economic literature on the post-socialist transition. This article exploits a rich survey of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in three post-socialist countries to explain behavioral responses to an inter-firm payment dispute. Particular attention is given to how the evolution of disputes is sensitive to both the geographic distance between trade partners and membership in a business association.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40147/3/wp761.pd

Collective Action and Post-Communist Enterprise: The Economic Logic of Russia’s Business Associations

Drawing on a unique set of surveys, this article explores the question of whether Russia’s post-communist business associations are generally antithetical to or supportive of the broad objectives of economic restructuring. Contrary to the most widely cited analysis as to the purposes of collective action in the business community, the survey evidence demonstrates that association members have embraced market-adapting behaviors at greater rates than nonmembers. The responses of both firms and associations, moreover, suggest that the associations themselves may, at least in part, be directly responsible. These findings point to the conclusion that in contemporary Russia the net returns to collective action in support of market development are high relative to those for purposes that are less benign.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40180/3/wp794.pd

Collective Action and Post-Communist Enterprise: The Economic Logic of Russia’s Business Associations

Drawing on a unique set of surveys, this article explores the question of whether Russia’s post-communist business associations are generally antithetical to or supportive of the broad objectives of economic restructuring. Contrary to the most widely cited analysis as to the purposes of collective action in the business community, the survey evidence demonstrates that association members have embraced market-adapting behaviors at greater rates than nonmembers. The responses of both firms and associations, moreover, suggest that the associations themselves may, at least in part, be directly responsible. These findings point to the conclusion that in contemporary Russia the net returns to collective action in support of market development are high relative to those for purposes that are less benign.business associations, collective action, post-communist transition, and market institutions

Organized business, political regimes and property rights across the Russian Federation

Abstract: This article explores the inter-relationship of collective action within the business community, the nature of the political regime and the security of firms’ property rights. Drawing on a pair of surveys recently administered in Russia, we present evidence that post-communist business associations have begun to coordinate business influence over state actors in a manner that is sensitive to regional politics. A firm’s ability to defend itself from government predation and to shape its institutional environment as well as its propensity to invest in physical capital are strongly related to both its membership in a business association and the level of democratization in its region. Of particular note, the positive effect of association membership on securing property rights increases in less democratic regions. The evidence, that is, suggests that collective action in the business community substitutes for democratic pressure in constraining public officials.collective action; property rights; political institutions; business associations

Organized Business, Political Regimes and Property Rights across the Russian Federation

This article explores the inter-relationship of collective action within the business community, the nature of the political regime and the security of firms’ property rights. Drawing on a pair of surveys recently administered in Russia, we present evidence that post-communist business associations have begun to coordinate business influence over state actors in a manner that is sensitive to regional politics. A firm’s ability to defend itself from government predation and to shape its institutional environment as well as its propensity to invest in physical capital are strongly related to both its membership in a business association and the level of democratization in its region. Of particular note, the positive effect of association membership on securing property rights increases in less democratic regions. The evidence, that is, suggests that collective action in the business community substitutes for democratic pressure in constraining public officials.

Collective Action and Post-Communist Enterprise: The Economic Logic of Russia’s Business Associations

Drawing on a unique set of surveys, this article explores the question of whether Russia’s post-communist business associations are generally antithetical to or supportive of the broad objectives of economic restructuring. Contrary to the most widely cited analysis as to the purposes of collective action in the business community, the survey evidence demonstrates that association members have embraced market-adapting behaviors at greater rates than non-members. The responses of both firms and associations, moreover, suggest that the associations themselves may, at least in part, be directly responsible. These findings point to the conclusion that in contemporary Russia the net returns to collective action in support of market development are high relative to those for purposes that are less benign.Key words: business associations, collective action, post-communist transition, and market institutions

Resolution, Recovery and Survival: The Evolution of Payment Disputes in Post-Socialist Europe

What determines the mechanism chosen to resolve a commercial dispute? To what degree does the aggrieved recover damages? And does the relationship survive in the aftermath? The answers to these questions affect expectations as to the costs of transacting and, thereby, the development of markets. But they have received almost no attention in the economic literature on the post-socialist transition. This article exploits a rich survey of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in three post-socialist countries to explain behavioral responses to an inter-firm payment dispute. Particular attention is given to how the evolution of disputes is sensitive to both the geographic distance between trade partners and membership in a business association.commercial dispute, business association, transition

A Note on Measuring the Unofficial Economy in the Former Soviet Republics

This note argues that the most commonly used estimates of the size of the unofficial economies in the former Soviet republics are flawed. Most important, they are based on calculations that disregard the variation in unofficial economic activity across space in the pre-transition Soviet Union. In addition, these estimates appear to understate the size of the unofficial economies in these countries. We propose alternative estimates and find that they are more strongly related to the institutional factors commonly used to explain the size of the unofficial sector. Our estimates also show that the size of a country's pre-transition unofficial economy is an important predictor of its size during the transition. This suggests that the size of the unofficial economy is to a large extent a historical phenomenon only partly determined by contemporary institutional factors.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39820/3/wp436.pd

INSTITUTIONS AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE OF DISTRUST IN THE RUSSIAN HOUSEHOLD DEPOSIT MARKET, 1992-1999

In our analysis of the Russian household deposit market during the 1990s, we show how the initial conditions of market emergence contributed to a vicious circle in which private commercial banks progressively lost the trust of potential depositors. The roots of this destructive dynamic lay in the initial conditions of market emergence. Initial experiences of fraud and financial loss led Russian households to distrust that commercial banks would honor their contractual obligations. As distrust grew and became more ingrained, the competitive conditions in the deposit market changed in a way that further increased the gains to opportunism and decreased the returns to trust production. In a self-reinforcing process, fraud begat more fraud.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39974/3/wp588.pd

Former Socialist Economies and the Undergraduate Curriculum

The authors report on the results of a survey of current undergraduate instruction on the socialist economic system and post-socialist economies. Based on responses from eighty colleges and universities, they evaluate how course offerings and content have changed in light of the momentous developments of the past decade. The evidence is then used to comment on trends and potential future developments in classes on comparative economic systems and transition economies. Although undergraduate offerings in these areas have arrived at a short-run equilibrium, there are good reasons to believe that the structure of the courses should soon be re-thought.college teaching, socialist systems, transition economies