This essay originated from the discussions of the role of central plan in an economic system with a functioning market mechanism. Such discussions emerged because of the implementation of the 'New Economic System'in Czechoslovakia. Under the old system, the role of the plan was considered clear...

This paper uses previously unavailable historical records to show that several assumptions central to a learning by doing explanation of productivity growth in the construction of Liberty ships during World War II are mistaken. Impressive increases in output per worker recorded at one of the...

A mutual link between poverty and environmental degradation is examined in an overlapping generations model with environmental externality, human capital, and credit constraints. Environmental quality affects labor productivity and thus wealth dynamics, whereas wealth distribution determines the...

This paper aims to analyse the vision of Karl Polanyi about the creation of markets. The importance of markets in societies, social relations, and capitalism.

This paper develops a proxy measure of the inequality of influence on the basis of survey evidence from 2002 Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS) conducted among 6,500 firms in 27 transition countries. We refer to the resulting inequality as crony bias in the political...

This paper describes work carried out at the University of York; its contents do not represent the views or opinions of BT. It provides an example of how insights into the field of IS can be gained by looking at it from the perspective of other academic disciplines. Based on the idea that...

Based on the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS) of firms in transition countries, which unbundles corruption to measure different types of corrupt transactions and provide detailed information on the characteristics and performance of firms, we find that: i)...

This paper provides a comprehensive literature review of the use of non- monetary transactions (barter, debt offsets, etc.) in Russia since the fall of Communism. The two primary theories are the credit crunch (liquidity constraint) theory and the virtual economy theory. The former relates to...

This paper uses household survey panel data of 416 rural households to study livestock asset dynamics in the north-east of Ethiopia. The period under examination (1996-2003) was marked by severe environmental shocks, including a series of droughts. Using as point of departure the literature on...

La réduction de la croissance économique pendant ces dernières années a provoqué un renouveau d'intérêt en ce qui concerne le poids de la présence de l'État, surtout dans les économie européennes. Il ne suffit pas d'insister sur le poids excessive de l'Etat. Il faut le prouver et dire...