Clusterization of post-communist countries of the Central and Eastern Europe by income inequality level

2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 41-52
Author(s):  
T. Cherkashyna
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
National Income ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Low Level ◽  
The Third ◽  
High Level ◽  
Communist Countries

Using level of income inequality, the clustering of post-communist countries of the Central and Eastern Europe is carried out by the following indicators: Gini index, share in the national income of the second quintile group, share in the national income of the third quintile group, share in the national income of the fourth quintile group, share in the national income of 10% of the poorest, share in the national income of 20% of the richest.,Сluster analysis (k-means method), in the programming environment Statistica is used as analysis tool and five clusters are obtained. The first cluster includes 8 countries (Albania, Hungary, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Сroatia, Russia, Slovakia) is characterized by sufficiently low level of income inequality and can be explained by flow of foreign investment and business transnationalization contributing to the increase of incomes of the main population groups of these countries. The second cluster includes 4 countries (Belarus, Slovenia, Ukraine, Moldova) and is characterized by comparatively low level of income inequality, but high level of property inequality due to heredity, аccumulated wealth та concentration of physical and financial capital by so called «oligarchic clans». The third cluster includes 5 countries (Bulgaria, Montenegro, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia) and is characterized by medium level of income inequality. The fourth and fifth clusters include so called «Baltic tigers» (Latvia, Lihuania, Estonia) and is characterized by high level of income inequality as the result of the occurrence of «excess profits» of financial assets owners. In order to decrease the income inequality in the investigated countries, the following measures are proposed: for the countries of the first cluster to accelerate deconcentration of capital ownership by «spaying» (redemption) of privatized enterprises shares by all categories on preferential terms (so called «ESOP programs»); for the countries of the second cluster to implement progressive tax scale where the tax rate for different groups of population vary depending on the income received and citizens with the lowest incomes (at the level of subsistence minimum or minimum wage) do not pay individual taxes at all; for the countries of the third cluster to cope with «shadow» economy and informal unemployment; for the counties of the fourth and fifth clusters to decrease tax burden on private entrepreneurs and thus stimulate self-employment.

ELECTORAL VOLATILITY AND CONSOLIDATION OF "NEW DEMOCRACIES" IN THE COUNTRIES OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

2020 ◽  
pp. 10-19
Author(s):  
Sergei L. Chepel ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Party Identification ◽  
New Democracies ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
Electoral Volatility ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Stable Factor ◽  
High Level ◽  
Communist Countries

The article examines the dynamics of electoral volatility in the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the early 21st century. Based on the statistical data of elections and the results of sociological researches the article focuses on the influence of economic and politico-cultural factors upon the electoral mobility of population. It is noted that the effect of economic situation on the changing party preferences of voters was lessened as the process of adaption of people to market economy progressed. It is believed that the society political culture in post-communist countries of CEE marked by a low-level party identification of citizens can be considered a more stable factor influencing the dynamics of electoral volatility. Weak party adherence induces voters who are disappointed by current government policy to change party preferencesrather quickly whatin itsturn contributesto maintenance of the high-level electoral volatility. In those circumstances parties are formed and they act purely on the current political situation rather than the existing social and group demands. In case of coming into power party leaders do not consider themselves bound to fulfill the promises which they ladled out during the election campaign, and as a result that can be the cause of a new rise in social disappointment The author concludes that the high level of electoral volatility in the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe considerably weakens the mechanism of responsible party management and so impedes consolidation of new democracies.

scholarly journals Backwardness of Central and Eastern Europe as a Heritage of the Soviet Period

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (338) ◽  
pp. 61-66
Author(s):  
Sandris Ancans
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
European Region ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Planned Economy ◽  
Command Economy ◽  
Centrally Planned Economy ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThe economy of Latvia lags behind economically developed nations approximately fourfold in terms of labour productivity in the tradable sector, which is the key constituent of a modern economy, thereby affecting future sustainable development in the entire country, including the rural areas. The economic backwardness is characteristic of the entire Central and Eastern Europe. This is the heritage of a communist regime that lasted for about half a century and the economic system termed a (centrally) planned economy or a command economy. However, such a term for the communist-period economy is not correct, as it does not represent the purpose it was created for. Accordingly, the paper aims to assess the effect of the communism period on the economic backwardness of the Central and Eastern European region of the EU. A planned economy that existed in all communist countries, with the exception of Yugoslavia, was not introduced to contribute to prosperity. It was intended for confrontation or even warfare by the communist countries under the guidance of the USSR against other countries where no communism regime existed, mostly Western world nations with their market economies. For this reason, it is not correct to term it a (centrally) planned economy or a command economy; the right term is a mobilised (war) economy. An extrapolation of a geometric progression for GDP revealed that during the half a century, Latvia as part of the USSR was forced to spend on confrontation with the West not less than EUR 17 bln. (2011 prices) or approximately one gross domestic product of 2011. The research aim of the paper is to assess the effect of the communism period on the economic backwardness of the Central and Eastern European region of the EU.

scholarly journals Financialization and Income Inequality in Selected European Countries, 2004–2013

e-Finanse ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 20-32
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Golebiowski ◽  
Piotr Szczepankowski ◽  
Dorota Wisniewska
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Gini Coefficient ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Value Added ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Total Employment ◽  
The Gini Coefficient ◽  
Synthetic Indicator ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The article examines the impact of financialization on income inequality between 2004 and 2013, through a panel analysis of seven European countries. Moreover, it attempts to examine differences in the perception of the phenomenon between the selected European countries belonging to the G-7 and countries from Central and Eastern Europe. The results demonstrate the existence of individual effects, which means that the level of inequality under examination is influenced predominantly by country-specific factors. The most significant correlation is noticeable between the level of unemployment and the degree of income inequality. An increase in unemployment is accompanied by a rise in the disproportions in the level of income that individual citizens have at their disposal whereas a decrease in the unemployment level contributes to an improvement of the GINI coefficient. Simultaneously, the results confirm the existence of significant correlations between the level of the GINI coefficient and such financialization indicators as the share of employment in finance in total employment and the contribution of the financial sector to total value added creation. The most prominent dependency was discovered when a constructed synthetic indicator was adopted as an indicator of financialization. At the same time, analysis of the synthetic country financialization indicator points to a conclusion that the level of financialization is higher in European countries belonging to the G-7 (especially Great Britain) than in countries from Central and Eastern Europe.

Political corruption in Central and Eastern Europe

2018 ◽  
pp. 169-193
Author(s):  
James L. Newell
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Third World ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Political Corruption ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
The World ◽  
Communist Countries

Political scientists have conventionally distinguished between advanced liberal democracies; communist and post-communist states, and so-called third-world countries. Though used less frequently than was once the case, the groups or ones like them are distinguished because drawing general conclusions about the nature of political life requires being able to categorise in order to compare countries; and because, broadly speaking, the groups mark broad distinctions tending to correlate with a range of variables including political corruption. Placing, then, the liberal democracies of Western Europe in one category and the former communist countries of Europe, plus Russia, in another reveals that corruption is a larger problem in the latter part of the world than it is in the former. Against this background, the chapter looks at the historical context of corruption during the communist era. It then provides an overview of the extent of corruption in the post-communist era and of the variations in its extent between the states concerned –before explaining the distinctive reasons for the development of these levels of corruption, assessing their impact and looking at what is being done and needs to be done to reduce levels of corruption.

Dilemma of Simultaneity

2019 ◽  
pp. 471-479
Author(s):  
Ilyas Saliba ◽  
Wolfgang Merkel
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Political Transformation ◽  
The Third ◽  
Transformation Processes

The theory of the dilemma of simultaneity is empirically based on the transformations of post-socialist states in Central and Eastern Europe. The transformations after the collapse of the socialist bloc were without precedent with regards to breadth and depth. The dilemma of simultaneity consists of three parallel transition processes on three dimensions. The first part of this chapter explores the three dimensions of the transitions: nation building, political transformation, and economic transformation. The second part discusses the three levels of transformation: (1) ethno-national identity and territory, (2) polity, and (3) socio-economic distribution. The third part highlights the complexity and challenges of multidimensional simultaneous transformation processes. The fourth and fifth parts discuss the role of international actors and socio-economic structures on the transitions in Central and Eastern Europe. The chapter concludes with an account of Elster’s and Offe’s critics and their response.

Memory in Post-communist Europe: Controversies over Identity, Conflicts, and Nostalgia

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 924-935
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Głowacka-Grajper
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Second World War ◽  
The Political ◽  
World War ◽  
Communist Past ◽  
The One ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
Second World

This article is part of the special cluster titled Social practices of remembering and forgetting of the communist past in Central and Eastern Europe, guest edited by Malgorzata Glowacka-Grajper Controversies over social memory form an important aspect of reality in the post-communist countries of Eastern Europe. On the one hand, there are debates about coming to terms with the communist past and the Second World War that preceded it (because important parts of the memory of the war were “frozen” during the communist era), and, on the other hand, and intimately connected to that, are discussions about the constant influence of communism on the current situation. This article presents some of the main trends in research on collective memory in the post-communist countries of Eastern Europe and reveals similarities and differences in the process of memorialization of communism in the countries of the region. Although there are works devoted to a comparative analysis of memory usage and its various interpretations in the political sphere in the countries of Eastern Europe, there are still many issues concerning daily practices (economic, religious, and cultural) associated with varying interpretations of the war and the communist past which needs further elaboration and analysis.

scholarly journals The effect of radical right fringe parties on main parties in Central and Eastern Europe: Empirical evidence from manifesto data

2019 ◽  
pp. 135406881986362
Author(s):  
Reinhard Heinisch ◽  
Steven Saxonberg ◽  
Annika Werner ◽  
Fabian Habersack
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Party Manifestos ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Sociocultural Issues

Do radical right fringe parties affect main parties in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)? Using data from the Manifesto Project, we analyze the relationship between radical right fringe parties’ and main parties’ policy programs regarding sociocultural issues in six post-communist countries of CEE. Even though radical right fringe parties have participated in government in several of these countries, and in Hungary a fringe party has become the country’s second largest party, our analysis shows that the sociocultural issues in radical right fringe party manifestos do not systematically relate to the changes in main party manifestos regarding those issues. Even if some of the main parties in our study might often agree with the radical right fringe parties, our analysis shows that the latter do not directly influence the policy priorities of the main parties.

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