Theory asserts that individuals' migration decisions depend more on their expectations about future income levels than on their current income levels. We find that the implementation of market-oriented reforms in post-communist countries, by forming good economic prospects, has reduced...

We analyse the impact of social capital on the willingness to migrate in 28 post-communist and five western European comparator countries using the Life in Transition Survey. We find substantially lower levels of professional social capital among the older cohorts in post-communist than in the...

We exploit a historical experiment that occurred in Czechoslovakia after World War Two to study the drivers of social capital accumulation in an extremely unfavorable environment. Between 1945 and 1948, the Sudetenland became the scene of ethnic cleansing, with the expulsion of nearly three...

We study whether the positive effects of homeownership on political participation and social capital, found in developed market economies, extend to post-communist countries. We use the privatization of publicly-owned housing in post-communist countries as an exogenous source of variation of...

We provide an overview of housing privatization policies and outcomes in transition economies. Our primary aim is to collect and systematize key information concerning the institutional features of housing privatization in individual countries: we identify the initial conditions, the timeframe...

We study whether the positive effects of homeownership on political participation and social capital, found in developed market economies, extend to post-communist countries. We find that homeownership is strongly related to higher participation in local-level and national elections. In...