The divergent postcommunist paths to democracy and economic freedom

Djankov, Simeon (2016) The divergent postcommunist paths to democracy and economic freedom. Financial Markets Group Discussion Papers (758). Financial Markets Group, The London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.

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Abstract

This paper presents evidence from 29 postcommunist countries that the economic transition has been more successful than the political transformation in the quarter century since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The adoption of strong parliamentarian systems has countered the adverse effects of religious and imperial history on economic evolution. As a result, the divergence in democracy and political rights is 4 to 5 times larger than the divergence in the path toward economic freedom and ease of doing business. Democracy is not harder to predict than economic freedom-history and ethnicity predict it well. But recent authoritarian regressions in Hungary and Poland, countries with successful economic reforms and strong parliamentarian systems, present a new challenge to researchers.

Item Type:	Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL:	https://www.fmg.ac.uk/
Additional Information:	© 2016 The Author
Divisions:	Financial Markets Group
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HG Finance
JEL classification:	P - Economic Systems > P2 - Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies > P26 - Political Economy; Property Rights P - Economic Systems > P5 - Comparative Economic Systems > P52 - Comparative Studies of Particular Economies
Date Deposited:	02 Jun 2023 23:03
Last Modified:	16 Sep 2023 00:01
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/118966

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