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The paper analyzes the divergence of economic growth in post-communist countries along geographical lines. It examines the role of culture, manifested in the form of civil society, social capital, trust, religious and business ethics, and historical experience, in the economic growth. Multivariate regression, a path (structural equation) model, and sensitivity analysis are used to determine direct and indirect effects of culture, policy, corruption, war, initial economic conditions, and ethnicity on the economic growth in 28 post-communist countries in 1990–1998. The statistical analyses show that a cultural index, which reflects civil society strength, the proportion of Catholics and Protestants in the population and historical experience, has the strongest effect on growth, economic reform, macroeconomic stabilization policy and corruption.

The paper analyzes the divergence of economic growth in post-communist countries along geographical lines. It examines the role of culture, manifested in the form of civil society, social capital, trust, religious & business ethics, & historical experience, in the economic growth. Multivariate regression, a path (structural equation) model, & sensitivity analysis are used to determine direct & indirect effects of culture, policy, corruption, war, initial economic conditions, & ethnicity on the economic growth in 28 post-communist countries in 1990-1998. The statistical analyses show that a cultural index, which reflects civil society strength, the proportion of Catholics & Protestants in the population & historical experience, has the strongest effect on growth, economic reform, macroeconomic stabilization policy & corruption. 4 Tables, 1 Figure, 89 References. Adapted from the source document.

International experience in combating corruption is relatively easily identify the causes and single out the societies with high levels of corruption in their bureaucracies and private sectors. It is much more difficult to prescribe effective remedies and even more problematic to get new approaches applied in an appropriate and sustained fashion. This is particularly true with respect to the post-communist countries that embarked on the road of transition to a new economic and political reality over a decade ago. Making significant advances along this road has turned out to be much more difficult than expected at the beginning and has revealed risks and obstacles not anticipated. The article explores to what extent the task of containing corruption was on the agenda of public management reforms in these countries, the impact of these reforms on the level of corruption, if any, and seeks to identify more effective approaches for combating corruption in transitional states.

The European post-communist countries that have integrated into the European Union are emerging market economies. However, their short-run economic performance does not correspond to the observed business cycles of other global emerging markets. The business cycles of the studied countries are longer, and their recessions are more pronounced. Moreover, economic activity in the studied countries is relatively low and volatile, and the trade balance and government purchases have a relatively significant countercyclical character. These are the core conclusions from our business cycle study of the chosen European post-communist countries. In the study, we use both traditional and contemporary business cycle definitions. Using traditional definitions, we determine the peaks, troughs, expansions and contractions and quantify the durations and amplitudes of their expansions, recessions and business cycles. Using contemporary definitions, we measure cyclical properties by computing the first and second moments of the chosen macroeconomic cyclical components and growth rates. Differences in the business cycles and characteristics between European post-communist countries and other emerging countries are discussed with reference to the works of other authors.

On the background of continuous global economic instability and debt problems in the Eurozone, the significance of post-communist external debt goes without saying. The article will explore the scope and dynamics of external indebtedness in the post-communist world in a comparative and historical framework. Particular attention will be paid to a likelihood of a debt crisis in the region similar to the one in the developing world in the early 1980s. The debt crisis will be an ultimate price for reform mistakes and may have serious political economy implications by hampering or even reversing the process of the post-communist transformation.

The last decade of the 20th century saw radical changes in Eastern Europe and the former USSR. Most of these countries made a transition from totalitarianism or authoritarianism to democracy and from central planning to a market economy. Adding to the latter, a number of national entities gained their independence after the disintegration of the federative states of the USSR, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. Many recent studies have focused on these double, in some cases triple transitions, and scholars from different fields analyzed the so-called "1989 Revolution" from different perspectives. Rather less scholarly attention has been paid to the future of post-communist constitutions and prospects for constitutionalism in these countries. The main questions dealt with throughout this study can be formulated as follows: Will liberal democratic constitutionalism take root in these countries? Will new constitutions in Eastern Europe and the former USSR perish or survive? This study also aims at contributing to the construction of a general constitutional theory by studying the causes and dynamics of constitutional change in general. Such constitutional change is not only on the East European, but also on the West European agenda. The purpose of this study is not to introduce a general theory about constitutional in/stability, but studying post-communist constitutions will help us to understand the causes and dynamics of constitutional change from a broader perspective