Who and What Holds Back Reforms in Croatia? – The Political Economy Perspective

The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors affecting reform patterns in Croatia in order to identify the main reasons for the (missing) reform success so far. The focus is on the analysis of the political system, especially on government fragmentation as one of the main features of proportional electoral rule and clientelism. In addition to political variables, economic factors are analysed as well. The obtained results show that reforms in Croatia were implemented during crises, that coalition governments are not conducive to reforms and that clientelism and corruption present significant obstacles for reform implementation in Croatia. Moreover, the results show that political cycles also have a significant effect, with reform activity slowing down as elections approach. This article contributes to the burgeoning debate on reform implementation (in the post-socialist societies) from the political economy perspective.

Prospects for East Asia to end-2021

Subject Prospects for East Asia to end-2021. Significance The countries of East Asia are at very different places as regards both COVID-19 and their domestic political cycles. All the region’s economies are rebounding strongly, except North Korea's, which is suffering its worst crisis in decades.

The role of the State, the private sector and the social sector in the different health political cycles in Portugal

The Portuguese health system comprises three critical sectors: The State, which intervenes as a regulator of the entire system, and as a planner, provider, and financer of the National Health Service (NHS); the social sector, with a relevant intervention, mainly in continued care; and the private sector, with an essential role in the provision of some types of care. During the last forty years, the State, social, and private sectors’ roles have changed either in its definition or terms of the relationship between them. In general, it is possible to identify, and we shall present them in this opinion article, eight political cycles that reflect the political contexts in Portugal, and, consequently, the ideological framework of each cycle.

Economic Growth, Income Distribution, and Social Exclusion in Turkey

This chapter examines the degree of income and institutional convergence between Turkey and European Union (EU) as well as trends in inequality and poverty by taking a long-term perspective as changes in polices an institutions impact on economic and social outcomes, often with considerable lags. The authors’ findings reveal that Turkey has successfully transformed its inward-looking and largely agricultural economy in the past 35 years into an export-oriented and urban-based economy. The transformation has been achieved mostly in periods of dramatic reform embedded in business and political cycles. Nevertheless, in the most recent era, there have been significant setbacks for certain groups in terms of regulatory environment, equality of opportunity, and access to markets and resources. Although there has been progress in the overall distribution of income and other aspects of social inclusion, convergence to EU standards is not easy to observe in these indicators.

THE INFLUENCE OF DESTRUCTIVE FACTORS ON INVESTMENT AND INNOVATION ATTRACTIVENESS OF UKRAINE

There have been examined the destructive factors such as corruption, shadow economy, which slow down the process of formation of investment and innovation attractiveness in Ukraine, as well as slow down the development of domestic business and the completion of economic system reform, which is especially noticeable in the pre-election and post-election periods. The role of global depression and shadow economy is outlined. The impact of political cycles on the volume of investment in domestic business is revealed, as well as creating risks not only for Ukrainian business but also for foreign investors. At the same time, such processes may attract foreign investors with the possibility of using «recycling» of residents’ capital. Using economic-mathematical methods and models of economic analysis, a comprehensive assessment of the conditions of doing business and establishing the interdependence of objective and subjective indicators-factors of the studied phenomenon and the functional relationships between them was made. We have made the conclusions about the nature of the variable «shadow economy» and the development of private business in the country, as well as their dependence on political cycles and economic shocks. A basis has been formed to identify the problems of declining business activity associated with the unstable political situation in Ukraine caused by the financial and economic crisis, hostilities inside the country, systematic reformatting of power, changes in political vectors, as evidenced by the index of state instability. The influence of destructive factors on the attraction of foreign investments in domestic business is proved, which testifies the insufficient impact of the state on the regulation of business relations and requires considered urgent reforms.

Backscratching in banks: political cycles in bank manager appointments

Close ties between politicians and businesses affect firms’ performance and political outcomes, and while direct political control over firms has been curtailed by tightened regulation, political connections remain ubiquitous in many countries. Yet, it is unclear through which channels these linkages are maintained in strictly regulated environments. I speculate that one such channel of political control over firms is politicians’ ability to influence corporate appointment decisions. To test the claim, I employ survival models that analyze chairpersons’ turnovers in 90 Spanish savings banks between 1985 and 2010 and find strong evidence for electoral appointment cycles: bank chairpersons are more likely to lose office shortly after regional elections and when new governments enter office.