The Political Economy of Poland's Transition: New Firms and Reform Governments (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions)

This book was first published in 2005. In the time span of a two-term US presidency, Poland went from an authoritarian one-party state with a faltering centrally planned economy to become a relatively stable multiparty democracy and a market economy with one of the highest GDP growth rates in Europe. A central feature of these economic and political reforms is a high rate of entry of new, domestically owned firms. This book uses detailed economic and political data to examine how these new firms contributed to the Polish transition. The authors test propositions about why some regions have more new firms than others and how the success of these new firms contributed to political constituencies that supported economically liberal parties. The book concludes by contrasting the Polish with the experiences of other transitional countries Half-title......Page 2 Series-title......Page 4 Dedication......Page 5 Title......Page 6 Copyright......Page 7 Contents......Page 8 Tables......Page 10 Figures......Page 13 Acknowledgments......Page 14 Abbreviations......Page 16 poland’s experience in a comparative context......Page 18 political and economic reform......Page 25 Creative Destruction in Poland and East-Central Europe......Page 27 The Political Economy of Transitions......Page 34 initial conditions and policies......Page 37 economic reform in the 1980s......Page 38 solidarnosc......Page 39 poland’s transition: shock therapy without privatization......Page 41 the balcerowicz plan......Page 42 the plan for poland......Page 44 the dynamic changes in the polish economy......Page 45 Job Creation and Loss among Polish Firms......Page 46 Changes in Sales......Page 48 Regional Variations......Page 51 the speed of transition......Page 54 the politics of the polish transition......Page 56 summary......Page 61 Appendix 2A: Firm Dynamics and Creation......Page 63 modeling new-firm creation, survival, and growth......Page 68 measuring creative destruction in the polish economy......Page 72 Birth of New Enterprises......Page 74 Survival of New Enterprises......Page 76 Growth in Firm Size......Page 78 Payroll per Worker......Page 81 Sales per Worker......Page 84 regional analysis and statistical models......Page 86 Birthrates......Page 90 Survival......Page 93 Size of Firm......Page 96 Wage Growth and Productivity......Page 97 conclusion......Page 102 Appendix 3A: Models for Birth, Survival, and Growth Rates and Wage Rates......Page 105 4 The Social and Distributional Costs of Transition......Page 115 Unemployment......Page 116 Family Income......Page 119 agriculture......Page 125 National Comparisons......Page 128 Individual Differences......Page 129 Regional Health Measures......Page 132 conclusion......Page 137 5 Individual Attitudes and Voting......Page 139 confidence in private enterprise......Page 140 attitudes toward communism......Page 146 individual vote choice in polish elections, 1991–1997......Page 149 Economic Voting......Page 156 Opinions about Communism......Page 160 Other Variables......Page 161 the evolution of a liberal economic constituency......Page 162 Appendix 5A: Coding of Private Confidence and Communism Measures......Page 164 Appendix 5B: Statistical Model of Individual Vote Choices......Page 168 Appendix 5C: Candidate Policies and Individual Voting......Page 172 a model of aggregate election returns......Page 174 statistical results......Page 178 De Novo Job Creation, Economic Conditions, and Votes......Page 179 Vote Results in Their Broader Context......Page 184 job creation and seat allocations......Page 186 Appendix 6A: Estimated Election and Vote Share Models......Page 189 seat allocation rules......Page 195 Electoral Rules and Party Coalitions......Page 200 Job Creation, Electoral Rules, and the Votes-to-Seats Relationships......Page 205 conclusion......Page 210 Appendix 7A: Analysis of Votes-to-Seats Rules......Page 211 the economy......Page 219 statistical analysis of unemployment changes......Page 225 Relating Creative Destruction and Unemployment Changes......Page 226 Statistical Results......Page 228 political transitions......Page 230 analysis of individual voting in the 2001 election......Page 233 analysis of party shifts......Page 237 votes and seat allocations......Page 243 summary......Page 245 lessons from the political economy of transition......Page 247 The Economics of Transition......Page 248 The Electoral Politics of Transition......Page 249 Economic Policies......Page 251 Institutional Factors......Page 256 Necessary Attitudes and Norms......Page 262 the necessity versus the sufficiency of these factors......Page 263 the next challenge......Page 264 the necessity of simultaneous economic and political reform......Page 266 Appendix A Assessing Measures of New and Small Firms in Poland......Page 270 References......Page 282 Index......Page 290 In The Time Span Of A Two-term U.s. Presidency, Poland Changed From Being An Authoritarian One-party State With A Faltering Centrally Planned Economy To Become A Relatively Stable Multiparty Democracy With A Market Economy With One Of The Highest Gdp Growth Rates In Europe. A Central Feature Of These Economic And Political Reforms Is A High Entry Rate For New, Domestically Owned Firms. Using Detailed Economic And Political Data, This Book Examines How These New Firms Contributed To The Polish Transition.--book Jacket. 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. John E. Jackson, Jacek Klich, Krystyna Poznańska. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 265-271) And Index. How did Poland go from an authoritarian one-party state with a faltering centrally planned economy to become a relatively stable multiparty democracy and a market economy? This book explains these successes by the high rate of creation and growth of new, domestically owned firms between 1990 and 1997.