Suchergebnisse

1. Why Poland? -- 2. The dynamics of the Polish political economy, 1990-1997 -- 3. Creative destruction and economic transition -- 4. The social and distributional costs of transition -- 5. Individual attitudes and voting -- 6. De Nova job creation and election returns -- 7. Liberal economic interests and seat allocations -- 8. The political economy after 1997 -- 9. The political economy of transition : why Poland? -- App. A. Assessing measures of new and small firms in Poland.

AbstractPoland's economic and political transition, one of the most successful, has depended very heavily on job creation in new firms to replace the jobs lost in the formerly state‐owned enterprises. This paper uses survey and aggregate data from three Polish elections to suggest that these de novo firms, the individuals they employ, and the residents in the local areas where they exist become an important constituency supporting pro‐reform political parties and constraining the actions of parties less sympathetic to the reforms. The creation of this political constituency helps explain how countries can successfully pursue both economic and political reforms.JEL classification: D72, P26.

Analyses of the economic transformation of the Polish economy and of the 1993 elections to the parliament suggest it is possible to proceed with pro-market and democratic reforms simultaneously. As demonstrated by the Polish case, the key to this process is the rate at which new enterprises are created. These enterprises, not the privatization of existing ones, are primarily responsible for the creation of a growing private economy. This evolving new economy, securely based and growing, creates a pro-reform constituency in the regions where it occurs. This constituency supports pro-reform parties. The Polish case offers important lessons about the reform process and about the way economies and political constituencies co-evolve. (British Journal of Political Science / FUB)