* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download Macroeconomic stability and growth in Eastern Europe
Survey
Document related concepts
Steady-state economy wikipedia , lookup
Business cycle wikipedia , lookup
Ragnar Nurkse's balanced growth theory wikipedia , lookup
Uneven and combined development wikipedia , lookup
Chinese economic reform wikipedia , lookup
Transition economy wikipedia , lookup
Transcript
Macroeconomic stability and growth in Eastern Europe Valeriano Martínez Blanca Sanchez-Robles* Department of Economics Universidad de Cantabria Abstract This paper examines, from an empirical approach, the process of growth of some countries in Eastern Europe over the last decades. More specifically, we carry over a panel data analysis of 13 countries over the period 1992-2008. We specifically want to test for the impact on growth of two main categories of variables: measures of investment (both domestic and foreign), and indicators of macroeconomic stability. Basic results suggest that domestic investment has played a key role in the growth performance of this group of nations; macroeconomic stability, as captured by low levels of inflation and public deficits, has also been beneficial for growth according to our estimations. Although there are some features of growth which are distinctive of the area, our analysis suggests that the economic performance of the region has also been influenced by classical factors which have been documented as key drive engines of growth for other groups of countries. 1 Introduction In 1989, and after months of social and political turmoil, the Berlin Wall collapsed. Although some changes had started to take place sometime in advance in several particular countries, the episode may be regarded as the official starting point of a complex and long progression of deep transformations in Eastern Europe (EE) and the Former Soviet Union (FSU). These nations, usually known as transition economies1, began to experience deep political, social and economic transformations in order to mutate from socialist, centrally planned entities, to market economies and democratic regimes. The process has been particularly complex and difficult since it has required the contemporaneous transformation of the economy, the political system and the institutional framework. Such a multifaceted phenomenon soon attracted the interest of many economists, international organizations and practitioners, and the study of transition economies gained momentum as a field of economics. Due to the interplay of many different aspects, the analysis of the countries in Eastern Europe is also very illuminating for those interested in economic growth, both at the theoretical and the empirical level. Indeed, the performance of GDP per capita in the area in the last decades has not been homogeneous among countries or over time. Output has followed a particular pattern in each nation, usually characterized by a recession (of different magnitude and length) at the beginning of the transition. Figure 1 displays per capita GDP growth in some 1 The term transition economies usually refers to CEE and FSU countries although it can also encompass all countries, not necessarily in Europe, that evolve from a situation of centrally planned economies to market structures. In this sense, countries as China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos may be regarded as transition economies, as some researchers do. 2 Eastern European countries, grouped in three categories2, and two Former Soviet Union Republics, Russia and Ukraine, in 1992-2008. As shown in the figure, growth has neither been uniform across countries nor over time. Along the period considered GDP per capita more than doubled for the Baltic republics and the five CEE countries. Russia and the SEE also increased noticeably their level of GDP per capita, despite the severe recession of the early stages of transition. Ukraine, instead, has registered a less dynamic process of growth. Figure 1. Growth in the CEE and FSU, 1992-2008 7000 6000 GDp per capita (constant 2000 US$) 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 Central Eastern Europe 1997 1998 1999 South Eastern Europe 2 2000 2001 2002 The Baltic Republics 2003 2004 Russia 2005 2006 2007 2008 Ukraine The groups are the following: CEE (Central and Eastern Europe): Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. SEE (Southern and Eastern Europe): Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania. BALT (The Baltics): Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Our sample is made up of these countries plus Russia and Ukraine. 3 In this paper we want to devote some time to the consideration of growth in this group of nations, for several reasons; in the first place, from a historical, cultural and geographical view they are an important part of Europe, and their performance may be crucial for the future evolution of all European countries. Second, they constitute a remarkable example of a transformation from a scenario of slow growth and sparse productivity to another characterized by higher levels of efficiency and GDP growth, with the subsequent improvement in the quality of life of the citizens of the area. Third, interesting lessons may be drawn from the different performance of output in the various countries. In this regard, we carry out a panel data analysis of a sample of 13 countries in the area over the period 1992-2008. We want to pay special attention to some kinds of factors which have been identified by recent literature on growth as being crucial for economic performance; these factors may be summarized in two categories: capital accumulation and macroeconomic stability. Our main conclusions are in line with, and complement, other contributions. Our results, which are still preliminary and need to be re-examined in further research, suggest that capital accumulation has been an important part of the process of development. Macroeconomic stability, as proxied by fiscal and price stability, has also collaborated to GDP growth. 2. A brief survey of the literature As it was said above, the research on transition countries has been relatively abundant and has been carried out from different, complementary approaches. 4 a) Research on the early years of transition There is already a relatively large number of papers which analyze the first stages of the economic and political transformation which started in the early 90s in EE and FSU. Some issues which have received particular attention in this regard are the causes of the initial recession, the optimal speed of transition – more specifically, the advantages and drawbacks of gradual adjustment versus shocks therapies - and the role played by liberalization, democratization and the institutional background (see Campos and Coricelli, 2002, and Popov, 2007, for reviews of the literature). These contributions have a short or medium run perspective, different from the long run analysis we intend in this paper. Nonetheless, they provide some useful insights about the economic scenario in these countries. Although there are some papers relating the initial recession to a weak consumption demand, (Lipton and Sachs, 1990; Blanchard et al., 19913) nowadays most experts attribute the fall in output to supply factors: the collapse of the previous central planning system entailed a change in relative prices and in trade patterns, which in turn implied a massive reallocation of resources (Popov, 2007). Within this category linking the recession to supply factors, some specific explanations stand out. One particular hypothesis focuses on the absence of a developed credit market capable of efficiently connecting saving and investment and providing firms with financial resources. The lack of proper financial mechanisms, in turn, entailed inter firms arrears, barter, or other harmful or inefficient practices (Calvo and Coricelli, 1992, 3 See also Frydman et al., 1991; Berg and Sachs, 1992. 5 1993, 1996; Gaddy and Ickes, 1998; Marin and Schnitzer,1999; Alesina and La Ferrara, 2000). Other papers focused in the disorganization brought about by the disappearance of the prevailing economic relationships, linkages and networks, established during the central planning era. In the previous situation each company was often linked to a small number of other firms which acted as its clients or suppliers. Information needs in this setup were limited, and monopoly rents arose. Once central planning mechanisms disappeared, it was not obvious to firms how to negotiate with potential buyers or sellers, how to get and transmit the information which is usually conveyed by price adjustments in decentralized economies, or how to search for the best partners (Blanchard and Kremer, 1997; Roland and Verdier, 1997). This phenomenon was especially acute in FSU, and less dramatic in countries where some market mechanisms have already been prompted by incipient reforms. Moreover, further pieces of research focused on firm and investment dynamics over the transition; sometimes the process was described along the lines of a Schumpeterian creative destruction, or a complex course of interaction between old and new, more productive firms (Aghion and Blanchard, 1994; Chadha and Coricelli, 1995; Hernandez Cata, 1997; Castanheira and Roland, 2000). b) Investigation about the determinants of growth A second broad category of papers has analyzed the connection between particular variables or aspects of the economic and social organization and output growth. In this regard, De Melo et al., (1996) launched an important line of research which examined the links between liberalization and growth (Sachs, 1996; Fischer et al., 6 1996a, 1996b; Selowsky and Martin, 1997; Fidrmuc, 2003). These papers documented a positive impact of liberalization on growth. Subsequent pieces of research have tried to circumvent the econometric problems related to liberalization indicators (for instance, endogeneity) or have stressed the equal or even larger importance of initial conditions, such as the geographical proximity to Western Europe or the recent historical background (Aslund et al., 1996; Krueger and Ciolko, 1998; Heybey and Murrel, 1999; Popov; 2000; De Melo, 2001)4. There is yet another relevant category of papers which focused on the role of institutions and stressed their importance for growth, especially of those capturing the rule of law and other legal aspects (Havrylyshyn and van Roden, 2000; Raiser et al., 2001; Godoy and Stiglitz, 2006; Beck and Laeven, 2006; Popov, 2007)5. These papers provide useful insights but have some econometric limitations: they usually perform cross country instead of panel analyses, sometimes because of the lack of available data for all years and countries considered in the sample. Efendic et al. (2008) try to overcome the limitations of cross country analysis and to correct the potential endogeneity bias and dynamic panel bias underlying static specifications by means of estimating a system GMM model. They report a positive impact of institutions on growth, but also document that this impact is not robust to the proxy of institutions included and to the dependent variable chosen in the model (level of GDP versus rate of growth). Furthermore, according to their results, institutions do 4 Efendic et al., (2008), however, question the relevancy of some of these proxies for initial conditions Kostevc et al., (2007) have suggested that institutions are also relevant in order for a country to be able to attract inflows of Foreign Direct Investment. 5 7 not seem to impact growth contemporaneously, but rather over longer periods, possibly of five years. Schadler et al. (2006) and Iradian (2009) have also extended and complemented some of the static models described above by performing panel data analyses along the lines of the recent empirical research on economic growth. Our research here is closer in spirit to Schadler et al., (2006),Efendic et al., (2008) and Iradian (2009). We intend to exploit the time series and cross sectional dimension of the data by means of static and dynamic panel data techniques. In this setup, furthermore, is easier to tackle some endogeneity issues. The estimations we performed and report here differ from those presented in the aforementioned two contributions in several aspects: the country sample we employ, the time horizon covered by the data and the variables included. In particular, we want to pay special attention to foreign direct investment and macroeconomic policies. c) Other potential drivers of growth: FDI The research described in this paper is also related to other sets of contributions, first, to those focusing on the macroeconomic impact of FDI. The important role played by inflows of foreign capital in the nations of Central and Eastern Europe has already been pointed out in the literature (see, for example, Bijsterbosch and Kolasa, 2010). As argued within the literature on growth, FDI may be regarded as a crucial mechanism of technological diffusion: it provides access to state of the art technology, practices and knowhow to countries which are not capable yet of innovating and generating technological progress but may benefit, instead, of advances made elsewhere and transmitted via foreign investment. Among others, this idea has 8 been justified at the theoretical level by Romer, (1993), Barro and Sala i Martin (1997) and Borenstein et al., (1998). FDI was especially relevant for CEE and FSU nations during the transition from central planning to free market: these countries, which enjoyed relatively high levels of human capital, lacked instead the ability to successfully develop new products and services that could be delivered through market mechanisms; they did not have, either, updated marketing and organizational knowhow. Socialist countries were obsolete not only in terms of technology per se but also of management techniques, design of personnel incentives, marketing strategies, financial planning and other activities along the value chain. This fact is a consequence of their having been distant from the usual channels of transmission and pervasion of new discoveries and advances – for example, international trade based upon market mechanisms - for several decades. In such a scenario, the entrance of new firms which could help disseminate not only discoveries and advances in terms of new products, services or processes, but also marketing and organizational techniques, might have been really beneficial. At the empirical level, there are some papers that show the positive impact of FDI on productivity and growth for alternative sample of countries (Benoga and SanchezRobles, 2003). Bijsterbosch and Kolasa, (2010) document a positive correlation of FDI inflows and productivity for 8 transition countries over the period 1995-2005. However, they also report that the interaction of FDI with other variables (human capital or institutional environment) is not always clear at the empirical level. They attribute this effect to the fact that FDI, in order to be capable of generating externalities and 9 impacting productivity, needs a certain degree of absorptive capacities in the domestic firms. These capacities may only show up when a certain level of consolidation has been achieved by the economy. d) Macroeconomic stability and growth The view about the role that the State should play in the process of growth of a country has evolved over time, partly because of the different paradigms and schools of thought that have dominated the field in the various moments. In the neoclassical Solow (1956) model, for example, economy policies could not alter the rate of growth in the steady state, and thus the effective role that could be played by the state was very small. In the framework of some subsequent endogenous growth models, however, (Romer, 1986; 1990; Lucas, 1988, Barro, 1990; Rebelo, 1991) the public sector could conceivable play a more active part, via the provision of public capital or the correction of externalities associated with knowledge or technology. Generally speaking, nonetheless, there is a number of authors suggesting that, as far as growth is concerned, one of the main tasks of the State should be providing the adequate framework for the activity of private agents. In this regard, the public powers should warrant the necessary conditions in the economy in order for crucial inputs (human or physical capital, knowledge, technology) to accumulate. This implies ensuring that the economy has the desired degree of macroeconomic stability to warrant the confidence of investors, provide incentives for the most productive destination of the inputs and rend the accumulation of inputs feasible and profitable at reasonable rates of risks. In contrast, an economy marked by macroeconomic instability will present an excessive degree of uncertainty, that in turn will deter agents from investing or will cause them make wrong decisions regarding the allocation of resources to alternative projects. 10 It is not straightforward to define or even describe macroeconomic stability. We may, however, get closer to this notion by means of selecting some indicators. The World Bank (1990) defines as stable a macroeconomic framework with these features: low and predictable rate of inflation, appropriate real interest rate, stable and sustainable fiscal policies, competitive and predictable exchange rates and viable current account. In accord with this description, Fischer (1993) argues that macroeconomic, price and fiscal stability are deeply related. There are some theories explaining why the macroeconomic instability which manifests in high or unpredictable inflation is detrimental for growth. Inflation reduces the rate of return of investment, for example via rigidities in the tax system (Bruno, 1993; Jones and Manuelli, 1993). Inflation may harm the productivity of inputs, by distorting prices and affecting the capacity of efficiently allocate resources (Smyth, 1994). It can be a signal of lack of competition in relevant markets or of lack of control of fiscal and monetary policy. It may foster agents to devote resources to unproductive tasks such as hedging (De Gregorio, 1993). Furthermore, high rates of price variation increase the risk premium of interest rate and impede the good functioning of financial markets. On empirical grounds, there are some papers that find a negative correlation between inflation and growth (Kormendi and Meguire, 1985; Grier and Tullock, 1989; Fischer 1993; Barro, 1995). Moreover, Fischer et al., (1996), Efendic et al, (2008) and Iradian (2009) document a negative correlation between inflation and growth for the case of transition economies. As far as fiscal stability is concerned, and on a priori grounds, the potential impact of deficits may be related to the nature of the expenditures which cause it. Outlays in 11 infrastructure impact the economy differently than government consumption. As a matter of fact, public investment may foster economic growth (Barro, 1990)6. Although this consideration is true, it is now apparent that in many cases public deficits exert a crowing out effect on private investment, increase risks premia in financial markets, and may be a signal of an excessive size of the public sector, that in turn foster activities as rent seeking or corruption, instead of directing individuals to more productive activities7. On empirical grounds, the negative correlation between public deficits and growth for wide samples of countries has been suggested by Grier and Tullock, (1989) and Barro, (1991)8. The positive impact of public surplus on growth has been unveiled by Easterly and Rebelo (1993), Fischer, (1993) and Garrison and Lee, (1995). Evidence concerning transition countries is mixed at this point. On the one hand, Iradian, (2009) finds a negative correlation between fiscal deficits and growth, whereas Efendic et al. (2008) report a positive relationship. 3. Empirical analysis a) Variables In order to get the rationale behind our empirical work, it may be useful to consider this basic framework for a growth model: Y = AK (1) K& = Y − C − δK (2 ) 6 This effect may also be caused by transfers via increases in the productivity of human capital (Cashin, 1995). 7 See Murphy, Shleifer and Vishny, (1991). 8 Sanchez-Robles (1998) provides some evidence suggesting a negative correlation between public deficits and growth for the case of Spain. 12 Where Y is output, K is capital, A is technological change, C is consumption, δ is the depreciation rate and a dot over a variable represents its derivative with respect to time. A encompasses, broadly speaking, all the factors that can enhance the productivity of capital. K may be thought of as an aggregate made up of public and private capital (as in Barro, 1990), human capital and physical capital (Rebelo, 1991; Lucas, 1988) or domestic and foreign capital (Bengoa and Sanchez-Robles, 2005). Alternatively, Y and K may be considered in per capita terms. From equations (1) and (2) above it is apparent that the rate of growth of output per capita will depend on two main types of factors: first, on the accumulation of capital in its broadest sense; second, on all variables increasing the productivity of capital. As an important part of the second sort we shall consider here the macroeconomic stability of the country. Following this distinction, we have included in our basic specification two main kinds of variables. The first one encompasses all the broad category of capital accumulation: both domestic and foreign. The second one will be made up of different variables intended to proxy for macroeconomic stability. A stylized indicator in this direction is the budget surplus or deficit. The expected sign of the budget balance is positive, (i.e. the impact of deficits will be negative) since we are no longer in the framework of short term macroeconomic policies of the Keynesian style, where public deficits may have an expansionary effect on the economy. Another important indicator is the inflation rate. The expected sign is negative as well. Moreover, we have included as control variables in some equations measures of other 13 aspects which have been reported by the literature as being relevant for the performance of transition countries: the quality of the institutional setting and the lag of the dependent variable. b) Sample, data and methodology The following 13 countries encompass our sample: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine9. All these countries were socialist economies in the past and started to transit to market economies after 1989. Although they share common features, there is also some heterogeneity among them. The time horizon is 1992 to 2008. We chose as the starting point the year 1992 because of two reasons; the first one is historical - these countries started the transition to market economy around 1990 - and the second is methodological: prior to this date available data were scarce and in most cases not reliable. We took as the final point the last year for which data for all countries and variables were available. Within our econometric strategy we decided to perform a panel data analysis. Panel data, first of all, widens notably the possibilities of the study: it allows us to explore the implicit information in the time dimension of data, provides more variability, permits to 9 We did not include in the sample the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Uzbekistan because all data employed in the estimations were not available in those cases. 14 reduce multicollinearity problems among variables and increases the size of the sample and thus the degrees of freedom. Secondly, it is probable that the countries considered have structural differences among them due to technology or agents preferences. Panel data techniques allow to control for this type of unobservable heterogeneity (Arellano and Bond, 1990). Finally, and as already pointed out by some of the literature10, it is possible that some of the variables included in the estimations pose problems of endogeneity that should be managed using instrumental variables. GMM procedures help solve this problem since we can use lagged variables as instruments and obtain, therefore, more consistent and efficient estimations. The baseline specification is a model of the form: growthi ,t = α i + βX it + ε it Where growth is the rate of growth of real GDP in per capita terms (in Purchasing Parity Power, PPP), Xit is a set of variables that could influence growth, α and β are the estimation parameters and εit is the error term. i represents the 13 countries and t captures time. The strategy was to perform the estimation with static panel techniques (fixed and random effects) and with dynamic panel procedures (GMM). In addition, we ran 10 For expample Efendic et al. (2008). 15 alternative versions of equation, as it is common in empirical growth literature. This procedure helps reduce multicollinearity. c) Results The results of this analysis are shown in Tables 1 and 2. Columns 1-4 in Table 1 show the results from a static panel data estimation with random effects. We also performed a fixed effects estimation; according to the Hausman test, however, we cannot reject the null hypothesis of the random effects estimation being a preferable representation of the data generation process. Domestic investment as a percentage of GDP is positively and significantly correlated with per capita growth. The point estimate is rather large and quite stable among estimations. It is also in accord with the results documented by Iradian (2009). Human capital indicators (secondary and tertiary school enrolments) are also positive and significant, although the impact of secondary enrolment seems more relevant, as is usually the case in these countries. As far as the indicators of macroeconomic stability are concerned, inflation displays a negative sign and is also significant at the 99% level. The point estimate is stable as well. The budget surplus has a positive correlation with growth, and is also significant. According to our results the impact of this variable on growth is remarkable, varying between 0.35 and almost 0.6. These figures are also similar to those reported by Iradian (2009). Finally, we have included as control variables two proxies of the degree of institutional development of the country, the Index Free from Corruption, from the Heritage 16 Foundation, and the measure of the country risk provided by The Institutional Investor. These indexes vary from 0 to 100; higher levels represent a smaller level of corruption and of risk. They are also positively correlated with growth and are significant at conventional levels. The only variable which does not display the expected sign is FDI as a percentage of GDP. We attribute this counterintuitive result to a problem related to the construction of the indicator, which is capturing annual inflows but not cumulative levels of foreign investment. Another possible explanation for this result is along the lines of the absorptive capacities hypothesis stated by Bijsterbosch and Kolasa, (2010). Perhaps our estimations do not find a positive impact since our data encompass also the beginning of the process, when some countries might not had surpassed yet the threshold necessary in order to benefit from technological diffusion. This is a puzzling issue, however, and one that deserves further consideration in future versions of this paper. Columns 5-8 in Table 1 display the results obtained when estimating our baseline equation by GMM. The first lag of the rate of growth is included in these equations. It captures the potential inertia or persistence present in the growth performance. It is positively and significantly correlated to growth, pointing to the existence of inertia. In other words, the current economic behaviour of the countries in the sample seems to be influenced by their past economic performance. As far as model diagnosis is concerned, the more important tests in GMM models is the test of autocorrelation of second order. The null hypothesis is no autocorrelation. The relatively high p values reported mean that the null hypothesis cannot be rejected. The 17 Hansen test is directed at over identification and validity of instruments. The null here is that instruments are valid and there is not over identification. The p value corresponding to this test is again high, and thus we cannot reject the null hypothesis of the identification being correct. Table 2 displays the results from slightly different versions of our baseline specification. Now the equations include the first lag of real GDP per capita, in order to test for the presence of convergence. The point estimate is negative and significant, suggesting the existence of some mechanisms towards convergence in the sample. We have performed as well some estimations taking as the dependent variable the level of GDP per capita, instead of its rate of growth. Generally speaking the results (available upon request) are similar to those obtained when regressing the growth rate of GDP. However, in some of these equations FDI has a positive sign. It is a puzzling result, that deserves further attention, why the sign of the correlation between FDI and GDP is not robust to the dependent variable employed. Sunmming up, and according to our results, macroeconomic stability, as proxied by low inflation and budget stability, seems to have been beneficial for growth in the countries of our sample. This correlation is present when alternative techniques are employed. Concluding remarks The countries in Eastern Europe have undergone a long and difficult process of transformation from centrally planned to market economies. The challenge was remarkable, since these countries not only had to carry out the economic reforms that allow them to grow and compete with the rest of countries in the 18 world markets, but also the political reforms that spur the transformation of the obsolete existing institutions into more democratic and market oriented. All macroeconomists, and specially those interested in growth, may draw insights and lessons from the attentive consideration and study of these processes. These facts have implied a particular pattern of growth in the last two decades, with their own features. In this paper we have carried out an empirical analysis of potentially important factors of growth in Eastern Europe countries. Results point to the importance of domestic investment and macroeconomic stability - as reflected by low levels of inflation and a balanced budget - as key drivers of growth. These results seem reasonable. In a long term growth framework, deficits are detrimental to growth since they are associated to corruption, rent seeking, an excessive size of government and distortions in the resource allocation. A low rate of inflation suggests an effective degree of market liberalization. Furthermore, in a heavily competitive environment characterized by strong rivalry because of the arrival of foreign firms, price stability is key. Domestic investment also seems to have been an important driver of growth. Evidence concerning FDI is puzzling, however. The correlation with GDP growth is negative, whereas the sign is positive when GDP in levels is taken as the dependent variable. This is, no doubt, something that needs to be assessed more carefully. Our analysis suggests that, although this group of countries has followed a particular process, with specific features, the key factors explaining growth for other samples of countries are also relevant in this case. 19 References Aghion, P. and Blanchard, O., 1994, “On the speed of transition in Central Europe”, in Fischer, S. and J. Rotemberg, J., eds, NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1994, MIT Press, Cambridge, 283-320. Alesina, A. and La Ferrara, E., 2000,”The determinants of trust”, NBER Working Paper 7261. Aslund, A., Boone, P., Johnson, S., 1996, “How to stabilize: lessons from Post-communist countries”, Brooking Papers on Economic Activity 1996, 1, 217-313. Barro, R., 1990,” Government spending in a simple model of economic growth”, Journal of Political Economy 98, 5, 407-443. Barro, R., 1991, Economic growth in a cross section of countries, Quarterly Journal of Economics , 106, 2, 407-443. Barro, R., 1995, Inflation and Economic Growth, NBER Working Papers 5326, Cambridge, Mass. Barro, R., and Sala i Martin, X., 1997, “Technological Diffusion, Convergence, and Growth”, Journal of Economic Growth 2, 1, 1-26. Beck, T. and Laeven, L., 2006 “Institution building and growth in transition economies”, Journal of Economic Growth 11, 2, 157-186. Bengoa, M., and Sanchez-Robles, B., 2003, “Foreign direct investment, economic freedom and growth: new evidence from Latin America”, European Journal of Political Economy, 19, 3, 529-545. Bengoa, M., and Sanchez-Robles, B., 2005, “Policy shocks as a source of economic growth”, Journal of Policy Modeling 27, 2, 249-261. Berg, A., Borensztein, E., Sahay, R., and Zettelmeyer, J.,1999, “The Evolution of Output in Transition Economies: Explaining the Differences” , IMF Working Paper 99-73. Berg A., and Sachs, J., 1992, “Structural adjustment and international trade in Eastern Europe: The case of Poland”, Economic Policy 14, 117-73. Bijsterbosch, M., and Kolasa, M., 2010, FDI and productivity convergence in Central and Eastern Europe: an industry-level investigation, Review of World Economics, 145, 4, 689-712. Blanchard, O., Dornbusch, R., Krugman, P., Layard, R., Summers, L., 1991, Reform in Eastern Europe, The MIT Press, Cambridge. Blanchard, O. and Kremer, M., 1997, “Disorganization”, Quarterly Journal of Economics 112, 4, 1091126. Borensztein, E., Gregorio, J., and Lee, J., 1998, “How does foreign direct affect economic growth?”, Journal of International Economics 45, 115–35. Bruno, M., 1993, “Inflation and growth in an integrated approach”, NBER Working Paper 4422. Calvo, G. and Coricelli, F., 1992, “Stabilizing a previously centrally planned economy: Poland, 1990”, Economic Policy 14, 213-26. Calvo, G. and Coricelli, F., 1993,”Output collapse in Eastern Europe: The role of credit”, IMF Staff Papers 40, 1, 35-52. Calvo, G. and Coricelli, F., 1996, “Credit market imperfections and low-output equilibria in economies in transition” in Blejer, M., Eckstein, Z., Hercowitz, Z., and Leiderman, L., eds., Financial factors in economic stabilization and growth, Cambridge U. Press, 75-102. Campos, N. and Coricelli, F., 2002, “Growth in Transition: What We Know, What We Don't, and What We Should” Journal of Economic Literature 40, 3, 793-836. Castanheira, M., and Roland, G., 2000, “The optimal speed of transition: A general equilibrium analysis”, International Economic Review 41,1, 219-39. 20 Chadha, B., and Coricelli, F., 1995, “Unemployment, investment and sectoral reallocation”, CEPR Discussion Paper 1110. De Gregorio, J., 1993, “Inflation, taxation, and long-run growth”, Journal of Monetary Economics 31, 3, 271-298. De Melo, M., Denizer, C., and Gelb, A., 1996, “Patterns of Transition from Plan to Market”, World Bank Economic Review 10, 3, 397-424. De Melo, M., Denizer, C., Gelb, A., and Tenev, S., 2001, Circumstance and Choice: The Role of Initial Conditions and Policies in Transition Economies, World Bank Economic Review, 15, 1, 1-31. Easterly, W., 1993, “How much distortions affect growth?, Journal of Monetary Economics 32, 2, 187212. Easterly, W., and Rebelo, S., 1993, “Fiscal policy and economic growth, An empirical investigation”, Journal of Monetary Economics 32, 3, 417-458. Efendic, A., Pugh, G., and Adnett, N., 2008, “Institutions and economic performance in transition economies – empirical research”, mimeo, Staffordshire University. Fidrmuc, J., 2003, “Economic reform, democracy and growth during post communist transition”, European Journal of Political Economy 19, 3, 583-604. Fischer, S., 1993, “The role of macroeconomic factors in growth”, Journal of Monetary Economics 32, 3, 485-512. Fischer, S., Sahay., R. and Vegh., C., 1996a, “Economies in Transition: The beginnings of growth”, American Economic Review 86, 2, 229-233. Fischer, S., Sahay., R. and Vegh., C., 1996b, “Stabilization and growth in Transition Economies: The early experience”, Journal of Economic Perspectives 10, 2, 45-66. Frydman, R., Wellisz, S. and Kolodko, G., 1991, “Stabilization policies in Poland: A progress report” in Exchange rate policies in developing and post-socialist countries, E. Classen, ed., ICS, 89-115. Gaddy, C. and Ickes, B., 1998, Beyond a Bail out: time to face reality about Russia’s ‘virtual economy’”, mimeo, Brookings Institution. Garrison, C.B., and Lee, F.Y., 1995, “The effect of macroeconomic variables on economic growth rates. A cross country study”, Journal of Macroeconomics 17, 2, 303-17. Godoy, S. and Stiglitz, J., 2006, “Growth, Initial Conditions, Law and Speed of Privatization in Transition Countries: 11 Years Later”, in Estrin, S. Kolodko, G. W. Uvalic, M. eds. “Transition and Beyond”, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, New York, pp. 89-117. Grier, K., and Tullock, G., 1989,”An empirical analysis of cross-national economic growth, 1951–1980”, Journal of Monetary Economics 24, 2, 259-276. Havrylyshyn, O. and van Roden, R., 2000, “Institutions matter in transition, but so do policies”, IMF Working Paper 00-70. Hernández-Catá, E., 1997, “Liberalization and the behaviour of output during the transition from plan to market”, IMF Staff Papers, 44, 4, 405-429. Heybey, B and Murrell, P., 1999, “The relationship between economic growth and the speed of liberalization during transition”, Journal of Economic Policy Reform 3, 2, 121-137. Iradian, G., 2009, “What Explains the Rapid Growth in Transition Economies?”, IMF Staff Papers, 56, 811-851. Jones, L., Manuelli, R., and Rossi, P., 1993, “Optimal taxation in models of endogenous growth”, Journal of Political Economy 101, 3, 485-517. Kormendi, R., and Meguire, P., 1985, “Macroeconomic determinants of growth: Cross-country evidence”, Journal of Monetary Economics 16,2, 141-163. 21 Kornai, J., 1994, “Transformational recession: the main causes”, Journal of Comparative Economics 19, 3, 39-63. Kostevc,C., Redek , T., and Sušjan, A., 2007, “Foreign Direct Investment and Institutional Environment in Transition Economies” Transition Studies Review, 14, 1, 40-54. Krueger, G. and Ciolko, M., 1998, “A Note on Initial Conditions and Liberalization during Transition”, Journal of Comparative Economics 26, 4, 718-734. Lipton, D., and Sachs, J., 1990, “Creating a market economy in Eastern Europe: The case of Poland”, Brooking Papers in Economic Activity 1, 75-133. Lucas, R., 1988, “On the mechanics of economic development”, Jounal of Monetary Economics 22, July, 3-42. Marin, D., and Schnitzer, M., 1999, “Disorganization and financial collapse”, CEPR Discussion Paper 2245. Moers, L., 1999, “How important are Institutions for Growth in Transition Countries?”, Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers No 99-004/2. Murphy, K.M., Shleifer, A., and Vishny, R., 1991, “The allocation of talent: implications for growth”, Quarterly Journal of Economics 106, 2, 503-530. Nuti, M., and Portes, R., 1993, “Central Europe: The way forward”, in Economic Transformation in Central Europe: A progress report, Portes, R., ed., CEPR, 1-20. Popov, V., 2000, “Shock Therapy Versus Gradualism: The End of the Debate (Explaining the Magnitude of Transformational Recession)”, Comparative Economic Studies 42, 2, 1-57. Popov, V., 2007, “Shock Therapy versus Gradualism Reconsidered: Lessons from Transition Economies after 15 Years of Reform”, Comparative Economic Studies 49, 1–31. Raiser, M., Haerpfer, C., Nowotny, T., and Wallace, C., 2001, “Social capital in transition: A first look at the evidence”, EBRD Working Paper 61. Rebelo, S., 1991, “Long run policy analysis and long run growth”, Journal of Political Economy 99, 500521. Roland, G., and Verdier, T., 1997, “Transition and the output fall”, CEPR Discussion Paper 1636. Romer, P., 1993, “Idea gaps and object gaps in economic development”, Journal of Monetary Economics 32, 3, 543-573. Romer, P., 1986, “Increasing returns and long run growth”, Journal of Political Economy 94, 5, 10021037. Romer, P., 1990, “Endogenous technological change”, Journal of Political Economy 98, II, S71-S102. Sachs, J., 1996, “The Transition at Mid Decade”, American Economic Review 86, 2, 128-133. Sanchez-Robles, B., 1998, “Macroeconomic stability and economic growth: the case of Spain”, Applied Economic Letters 5, 587-591. Selowsky, M., and Martin, R., 1997, “Policy performance and output growth in Transition economies”, American Economic Review 87, 2, 349-353. Schadler, S., Mody, A., Abiad, A. and Leigh, D., 2006, “Growth in the Central and Eastern European Countries of the European Union”, IMF Occasional Paper 252, IMF. Solow, R., 1956, “A contribution to the theory of economic growth”, Quarterly Journal of Economics 70, 1, 65-94. World Bank, 1990, World Development Report, Washington D.C. 22 Table1: Dependent variable: real GDP per capita growth (in percentage) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Random Random Random Random GMM GMM GMM GMM Real GDPpc growth 0,186 ** 0,203 ** 0,109 ** 0,109 ** (Lag 1) (%) (2.22) (2.68) (2.08) (2.01) FDI (% GDP) GKF (%GDP) -0,016 -0,017 -0,030 -0,025 -0,011 -0,009 -0,034 -0,029 (-1.52) (-1.48) (-1.33) (-1.08) (-1.22) (-1.13) (-1.32) (-1.22) 0,229 *** 0,235 *** 0,215 ** 0,190 ** 0,168 *** 0,161 *** 0,221 *** 0,194 ** (4.76) (4.78) (2.04) (2.10) (3.46) (3.74) (2.84) (2.46) Secondary school 0,121 *** 0,093 ** 0,106 ** 0,073 *** enrollment (%) (2.72) (2.51) (2.40) (2.76) Tertiary school 0,026 ** 0,038 * 0,017 ** 0,036 ** enrollment (%) (1.98) (1.92) (1.33) (1.98) Inflation (%) -0,009 *** -0,009 *** -0,009 *** -0,009 *** -0,008 *** -0,076 *** -0,018 *** -0,018 *** (-3.70) (-3.59) (-3.05) (-2.89) (-4.31) (-3.36) (-4.33) (-4.18) Deficit (-)/Surplus (+) 0,401 *** 0,361 *** 0,495 *** 0,556 *** 0,313 *** 0,271 *** 0,535 *** 0,590 *** (% GDP) (5.56) (4.70) (3.68) (3.77) (3.16) (4.60) (5.41) (5.44) Free from corruption 0,862 *** 0,713 ** 0,861 *** 0,578 *** (The Heritage Foundation) (3.07) (2.54 (4.92) (2.66) Country risk 0,098 ** 0,038 ** 0,131 ** 0,163 ** (Institutional Investor) (2.16) (1.97) (2.20) (2.14) 166 166 # Observations 155 155 Hansen test 0,652 0,605 0,436 0,394 First order serial correlation 0,043 0,04 0,064 0,034 Second order serial correlation 0,111 0,164 0,703 0,723 2 Adjusted R Hausman test 155 155 169 169 0,427 0,399 0,384 0,324 2,02 3,15 5,09 4,05 Notes: t-statistics are in parenthesis under the coefficients. *, **, *** denote significance at 10, 5 and 1 per cent levels. Results are reported for random effects with robust standard errors and two-step System GMM with robust standard errors. Hausman test: H0 (Random effects): CHISQ(k) < CHISQ(k) at critical level. The figures reported for Hansen test and Arellano-Bond correlation tests are p-values. 23 Table 2: Dependent variable: real GDP per capita growth (in percentage) 1 2 3 4 GMM GMM GMM GMM Ln Real GDPpc -0,016 *** -0,014 ** -0,024 ** -0,021 ** (Lag1) (-3.65) (-3.11) (-2.31) (-2.05) FDI(%GDP) GKF (%GDP) -0,012 -0,014 -0,035 -0,033 (-1.34) (-1.40) (-1.33) (-1.61) 0,254 *** 0,245 *** 0,270 *** 0,222 *** (6.79) (6.51) (3.30) (2.66) Secondary school 0,174 *** 0,124 ** enrollment (%) (5.36) (2.21) Tertiary school 0,047 *** 0,037 *** enrollment (%) (3.76) (3.05) Inflation (%) -0,011 *** -0,010 *** -0,009 *** -0,009 *** (-5.30) (-5.11) (-3.63) (-3.90) Deficit (-)/Surplus(+) 0,355 *** 0,237 *** 0,456 *** 0,504 *** (% GDP) (6.79) (4.13) (4.34) (4.27) Free from corruption 0,734 ** 0,362 ** (The Heritage Foundation) (2.10) (2.03) Country risk 0,041 ** 0,027 ** (Institutional Investor) (2.03) (2.11) 168 168 # Observations 155 155 Hansen test 0,705 0,648 0,489 0,404 First order serial correlation 0,068 0,095 0,298 0,137 Second order serial correlation 0,113 0,148 0,657 0,596 Notes: t-statistics are in parenthesis under the coefficients. *, **, *** denote significance at 10, 5 and 1 per cent levels. Results are reported for random effects with robust standard errors and two-step System GMM with robust standard errors. Hausman test: H0 (Random effects): CHISQ(k) < CHISQ(k) at critical level. The figures reported for Hansen test and Arellano-Bond correlation tests are p-values. 24