Uzbekistan is not usually considered an economic success story, but in fact it is: its GDP increased since 1989 more than in any other post-communist country, except for China, Vietnam and Turkmenistan. The success of Uzbekistan is very much similar to the Chinese - gradual economic reforms with...

Sometimes industrial police is a success story, but sometimes it is a total failure. It seems like the best results are achieved in countries that (1) support industries oriented not only towards import substitution, but also towards export, at least in the longer run, and (2) support not all...

If there is a negative terms of trade or financial shock leading to the deterioration in the balance of payments, there are two basic options for a country that has limited foreign exchange reserves. First, a country can maintain a fixed exchange rate (or even a currency board) and wait until...

The goal of this paper is to offer a non-technical interpretation of the "Great Divergence" and "Great Convergence" stories. After reviewing existing explanations in the literature, I propose a different interpretation. Western countries exited the Malthusian trap by destroying traditional...

This paper investigates individual pensions and long-term financial sustainability of the pension system in the face of the current pension legislation from 2002 to 2015 and under the new pension formula , which comes into force in 2015, according to the Federal Law "On Insurance Pensions". The...

Strict protection of IPR can have a negative effect on economic development. Regression of economic growth on these indices produces conventional results (positive effect of stricter protection of IPR on growth) only if indices of institutional capacity (government effectiveness, control over...

Is resource abundance a blessing or a curse? Typically, in resource rich countries, domestic fuel prices are lower, and energy intensity of GDP is higher. But they have higher investment in R&D and fixed capital stock, larger foreign exchange reserves and more inflows of FDI. They also have...

The goal of this study is to reveal the long-term trajectory of Russian economic development and to make predictions for the future. The study starts with a much discussed question: why Russia did worse economically during transition than most other countries in Europe and Asia? It is argued...

Strict protection of IPR can have a negative effect on economic development. Regression of economic growth on these indices produces conventional results (positive effect of stricter protection of IPR on growth) only if indices of institutional capacity (government effectiveness, control over...