@techreport{Zweynert2005Transitions,
abstract = {The increasing gap between the formerly socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe
(CE & EE) with regard to both their economic and political performance cannot be
explained by their different starting conditions after the breakdown of the Soviet Union
alone. Rather, it is due to cultural and historical circumstances that shape the particular
tradition and societal environment. Taking a cultural approach and referring to the newer
literature on the transfer of institutions, we try to improve the understanding of the
interrelation between formal and informal institutions. Our central thesis is that the ?reaction
rate? of informal institutions depends on their compatibility with imported formal
institutions. The transition processes in CE & EE can tell us much about the relation
between path dependent and politically implemented institutional change. During the
20th century the countries of CE & EE twice went through rapid institutional change:
For centuries they had acculturated to Western Europe, but as a result of the October
Revolution ?Eastern? patterns were imposed upon them. Since the breakdown of the SU
in the late 1980s they have ?returned to Europe? by (re-)establishing democracy and capitalism.
In our opinion, to understand the differences in performance between the transition
countries, it is necessary to interpret both transitions as processes of institutional
transplantation and ask how the informal institutional settings in the different countries
interacted with the imported formal institutions.},
author = {Joachim Zweynert and Nils Goldschmidt},
copyright = {http://www.econstor.eu/dspace/Nutzungsbedingungen},
keywords = {P51; Z10; 330; Cultural Economics; Institutions; Transition; Path Dependence; \"{U}bergangswirtschaft; Institutioneller Wandel; Evolutions\"{o}konomik; Osteuropa; Pfadabh\"{a}ngigkeit},
language = {eng},
number = {314},
title = {The Two Transitions in Central and Eastern Europe and the Relation between Path Dependent and Politically Implemented Institutional Change},
type = {HWWA Discussion Paper},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10419/19286},
year = {2005}
}
