{"title":"The Impact of Recentralisation on FDI: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment","authors":"H. Luu, Minh Ngoc Nguyen, H. Nguyen","doi":"10.1080/14631377.2022.2029252","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14631377.2022.2029252","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Although decentralised governance has been one of the most salient political regimes worldwide over the past few decades, many countries have started to realise various shortcomings associated with their decentralisation process. As a consequence, a number of central governments have attempted to pursue recentralisation reforms in order to reclaim authority from the localities. This government reform can lead to significant changes in institutional arrangements, and subsequently, may influence various aspects of socio-economic activities. However, the real impact of recentralisation reform still remains ambiguous. In this paper, we examine how recentralisation may affect foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. We exploit the pilot recentralisation reform that temporarily abolished the intermediate legislative branches in some provinces in Vietnam as a quasi-natural experiment. The result shows that recentralisation leads to a significant reduction in FDI inflows. Our results are robust to a number of sensitivity analyses and falsification tests. Overall, our findings contribute to the literature on the determinants of FDI and provide new evidence on the real effect of recentralisation reform.","PeriodicalId":46517,"journal":{"name":"Post-Communist Economies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2022-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43280615","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Populism and economic policy: lessons from Central and Eastern Europe","authors":"Magnus Feldmann, M. Popa","doi":"10.1080/14631377.2022.2029253","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14631377.2022.2029253","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT A growing literature has identified a coherent economic model associated with populist governments in Central and Eastern Europe. This model runs counter to some aspects of the former neoliberal consensus in the region and to established theories of good governance. Considering three cases which are representative of these developments – Poland (since 2015), Hungary (since 2010), and Romania (2016–19) – we argue that a major unexplained puzzle is the relatively good economic performance of such governments. We develop three interrelated explanations for this apparent puzzle and test them using quantitative data. First, macroeconomic data show that the populist rhetoric of these parties is not associated with classical macroeconomic populism. Second, government accounting data show that public spending has been targeted towards specific groups and has not led to increasing tax burdens. Third, firm-level data on business confidence and institutional perceptions show no obvious negative effects associated with these governments.","PeriodicalId":46517,"journal":{"name":"Post-Communist Economies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2022-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59818320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Enlisting oil and gas companies for Russia’s Arctic development. Implementation in a rent-based political economy","authors":"Ingerid M. Opdahl","doi":"10.1080/14631377.2022.2028476","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14631377.2022.2028476","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Oil and gas extraction remains a cornerstone in Russia’s development plans for the Arctic Zone, even as there are considerable constraints on new projects. But what does it take to implement hydrocarbon-based regional development in a rent-based political economy? This paper employs a case study of interaction between state and business actors over hydrocarbon-based cargo traffic for the Northern Sea Route to show how Russia’s elites respond to constraints on Arctic development. It is argued that aims of development and of national interest protection enable the state to enlist companies when implementing high-level priorities. This happens when state actors mobilise major companies, using their privileges in the limited access order context as incentives. This route to implementation of regional developmental aims reinforces Russia’s current oil and gas-based development model as a future model for the Arctic Zone.","PeriodicalId":46517,"journal":{"name":"Post-Communist Economies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2022-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43582844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Global environmental politics and international organizations: the Eurasian and European experience","authors":"Anastassia V. Obydenkova","doi":"10.1080/14631377.2022.2028477","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14631377.2022.2028477","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The literature on environmental politics and regional governance has mainly been dedicated to the role played by the European Union (EU). The analysis of environmental agenda and politics of other regional international organisations (IOs) remained in the shadows compared to studies of European actors. This special issue aims to address the following questions: How do various regional IOs matter in promoting and sustaining an environmental agenda? What challenges do they face? The first perspective developed in this Forward to special issue looks into European IOs comparatively to Eurasian IOs. The second perspective unfolds various environmental issues within the EU and across post-Communist EU members and candidate states. The analysis of these two perspectives discloses multiple dimensions in the nexus of political and economic developments, and contribute to better understanding of the role of IOs in sustainable development.","PeriodicalId":46517,"journal":{"name":"Post-Communist Economies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2022-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43603873","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Territories of accelerated development: another case of policy failure in Russia?","authors":"Stephen Fortescue","doi":"10.1080/14631377.2022.2029254","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14631377.2022.2029254","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Territories of accelerated development (TORs)1 are special economic zones originally devised to drive transformational economic development in the Russian Far East (RFE). They quickly came to be allowed also in monogoroda (one-company towns) throughout Russia, with reduced transformational expectations. The change in concept and implementation involved a complex and conflicted policy process, the analysis of which allows conclusions to be reached on the nature of the Russian policy process more broadly.","PeriodicalId":46517,"journal":{"name":"Post-Communist Economies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2022-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49277665","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Strategies and challenges of sustainable development in Eurasia","authors":"Anastassia V. Obydenkova","doi":"10.1080/14631377.2022.2028478","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14631377.2022.2028478","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT While supporting the values and goals of sustainable development at the international level, states might employ very different strategies at the national level. The goal of this Forward and of special issue is twofold. First, it aims to advance our understanding of different strategies, paying special attention to China and Russia at global, national, and sub-national levels. Thus, analysis of their strategies across different levels presents a more rounded picture. The second goal is to identify at least a few of the most pressing challenges of sustainable development across Eurasia (e.g. nuclear supply chain, emissions, environmental conflict management) and to attempt to understand their triggers, outcomes, and potential solutions. This Forward aspires to develop a better dialogue across different sets of literature in area studies, environmental politics, and international relations to improve our understanding of obstacles to sustainable development in Eurasia.","PeriodicalId":46517,"journal":{"name":"Post-Communist Economies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2022-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41937310","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An examination of the relationship between implicit taxes and market structure: Evidence from Chinese listed companies","authors":"Jifeng Cao","doi":"10.1080/14631377.2021.2006494","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14631377.2021.2006494","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT An implicit tax is a reduction in the pre-tax rate of return driven by tax preferences on an investment. The extant research demonstrates existence of implicit taxes at corporate level, but prior studies have drawbacks in tax preferences measure. This study takes the unique advantage of Chinese corporate tax rate preference setting to address research method problems. By employing the propensity score matching and multivariate regression analysis, we demonstrate the existence of implicit taxes in Chinese listed firms and the market structure impedes the realisation of implicit taxes. The market power and market concentration reduce the negative effect of tax preferences on the firm’s pre-tax rate of return.","PeriodicalId":46517,"journal":{"name":"Post-Communist Economies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2022-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48678409","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Role of institutions in the corruption and firm innovation nexus: evidence from former Soviet Union countries","authors":"Elchin Aghazada, Gaygysyz Ashyrov","doi":"10.1080/14631377.2021.2006495","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14631377.2021.2006495","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In view of the missing consensus on how corruption relates to firm innovation, this paper empirically studies the relationship between petty corruption and product, process, marketing and organisational innovations in the former Soviet Union region. Exploiting cross-sectional firm-level data from the fifth round of the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey, the paper argues that institutional context has utmost importance when approaching this link. Probit estimations for a full sample of former Soviet Union countries indicate a positive link between bribes and firm innovation. Considering variations in institutional development levels, the paper distinguishes three clusters of countries within the region with respect to the quality of institutional structures based on Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) data from the World Bank. The results reveal that the grease-the-wheel effect of bribery on firm innovation strongly remains in countries with weak institutional quality. To explore this link further, this paper made several additional estimations and robustness checks.","PeriodicalId":46517,"journal":{"name":"Post-Communist Economies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2022-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47969167","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Two sides of the same coin? Viet Nam’s macro resilience under trade-led growth","authors":"Elodie Mania, Arsène Rieber, Thi Anh-Dao Tran","doi":"10.1080/14631377.2021.2006483","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14631377.2021.2006483","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Viet Nam is following the successive waves of rapid industrialisation in Asia by implementing an export-oriented growth strategy. The country is strongly integrated into global value chains. However, a key concern is whether such trade-led growth is sustainable in the long run and resilient to global shocks. Drawing on a multi-country balance-of-payments-constrained growth model, our objective in the present paper is threefold. Firstly, we examine Viet Nam’s growth performance over the past 30 years of transition and integration. More specifically, we measure the respective contribution of partner areas to its external constraint. Secondly, we analyse how and through which transmission channels the changing geography of international trade has impacted the balance-of-payments-constrained growth rate before and after Viet Nam joined the WTO in 2007. A decomposition of the external constraint into different factors from different sources is proposed in order to assess the outcomes of WTO accession. Lastly, we assess the country’s ability to face the current Covid-19 pandemic. Given its deep integration into the global economy, the geography of trade relations is critical in determining Viet Nam’s vulnerability. This corroborates recent development studies that make a case for partner diversification and growth re-orientation in order to build macro resilience.","PeriodicalId":46517,"journal":{"name":"Post-Communist Economies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2022-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49291664","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}