Post-socialist Countries Research Articles

Exploring Budget Surpluses: Budget Absorption Problems in Recently Decentralized Macedonian Municipalities

ABSTRACT This study treats operating budget surpluses as an absorption problem rather than a strategic fiscal policy. Applying a system generalized method of moments (GMM) model on panel data from 80 Macedonian municipalities for the period 2006–2020, the study examines the relation of decentralization and vertical fiscal imbalance with these systematic operating surpluses. The findings from the study are mixed. The findings from this study are relevant to all developing countries undergoing fiscal decentralization reforms, especially post-socialist countries. This study fills a void in the literature examining non-strategic surpluses in recently decentralized local governments.

Postsocialism as a Crime

Abstract The decade of the 1990s has become a significant topic of cultural memory in postsocialist countries, including the Czech Republic. One of the most pervasive interpretive frames of this period of recent history, present across various media, is that of “crime.” This article argues that such a framing is supported by the police, an institution with considerable power to shape shared notions about the recent past. The interpretation of the first postsocialist decade as criminal in nature is demonstrated through the example of the Czech true-crime tv series Devadesátky (The Nineties, 2022). The Nineties is analyzed using three key concepts. “Plurimedial networks” help explain how the series became a powerful medium of memory. “Police memorialization” is used to show how the memory of postsocialism is constructed through the motif of crime from the perspective of the police and what its political implications are. “Police culture” provides a source for a critical reflection on police memory, revealing vested interests behind particular narrative representations of reality-based past events such as those depicted in The Nineties.

From Administrative Price to Market Value of Real Estate. The Evolution of the Valuation System in Poland

Abstract The article applies the method of historical research, using a temporal perspective dating back to 1985, to trace the evolution of market valuation principles for real estate in Poland. These principles evolved similarly to those in many other post-socialist countries, influenced by political and socio-economic transformations and the resulting list of objectives for which these values became essential. The changing legal regulations allowing for the emergence and development of a free real estate market played a decisive role in this process. It was also a period of preparing real estate valuation professionals to meet these requirements. Today, the methodology of valuation, under increasing pressure from various real estate market entities and the rapid advancement of intelligent data collection and processing technologies, is undergoing further evolution. In many countries, including Poland, lively discussions and disputes are ongoing regarding the legal authorization of statistical tools and automated valuation models in valuation practice. These possibilities are being considered particularly in the context of mass property valuations for tax purposes. The methodology involves the analysis of Polish legal provisions, foreign literature, and documents proving the gradual marketization of valuation principles.

Ill-informed or ideologically driven? Climate change awareness and denial in Europe

Understanding and accepting climate change is crucial for individuals to adopt environmentally responsible behaviors and support political actions aimed at mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. In this cross-national comparative study, we explore factors associated with both climate change denial and awareness. We analyze data from the European Social Survey (Wave 8) and additional country-level data to identify factors associated with each of these outcomes. We measure awareness as a composite index that aggregates multiple indicators, including beliefs about the existence of climate change, concern, causes, impact, and responsibility. Our findings indicate that climate change denial and awareness do not exist on a single scale. Climate change awareness is strongly influenced by individuals' socio-demographic characteristics, values, and political orientation. Higher levels of awareness are found among those who are more receptive to educational efforts that promote scientific knowledge. In contrast, climate change denial is weakly related to socio-demographic and political factors and is more influenced by individuals' worldviews and detachment from mainstream society. European post-socialist countries demonstrate distinct attitudes towards environmental issues, with lower average climate change awareness and a higher proportion of individuals denying climate change.

Governing transit and irregular migration: informality and formal policies

ABSTRACT Informality has attracted significant attention in migration studies, yet a fresh look is needed given the succession of world crises over the past 15 years and the increasing use of informality to deal with them. This special issue considers informality as practices of governance that supplement, substitute, replace or operate beyond formal rules. It focuses on dissecting the governance of transit and irregular migration in the liminal space between formal policies and informal practices, and focuses on three major questions: Why and how has migration governance experienced informality’s expansion in policies and practices? What are the drivers, sites, temporalities, and implications of such an expansion? How do power relations among different stakeholders affect such governance compared to normative and institutional logics? This special issue ventures beyond existing constatations that the formal and informal are entangled. A core assertion is that informality can be a deeper structuring force, because informal interactions repeat over time, creating alternative or supplementary forms of governance beyond formal institutions. This collection of articles is original in shedding light on such governance from the perspective of world politics and political regimes, little discussed thus far in systematic ways. It is also at the forefront of theorizing on how stakeholders use mechanisms of power to govern polycentrically, that is from multiple centres related to each other but not hierarchically subordinated. This collection provides novel perspectives on socio-spatial and temporal aspects of informality’s use in such governance. Building on extensive fieldwork and data-driven secondary research, this collection covers Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland, post-socialist countries in Eastern Europe, including Belarus and Russia after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Turkey and Iraq in the Middle East, and Albania in the Balkans, as well as Thailand and Myanmar in Asia.

Export, economic complexity and growth in the integrated periphery of the European automotive industry

ABSTRACT This article examines the relationship between the export of automobiles, economic complexity and the growth of countries of the European automotive industry. It utilises Eurostat and OEC databases and implements an OLS panel model to examine the trends and position of countries in the dynamic core-periphery structure over the period 2000–2020. We aim to investigate how the increase in economic complexity is related to the change in the share of exports of automobiles in the post-socialist countries of the integrated periphery compared to core areas. Our results suggest that the economic growth of the post-socialist countries of the integrated periphery is driven by economic complexity. On the other hand, they differ significantly when it comes to the export of automobiles which can have a substantial influence on long-term sustainable growth in the context of digital and green transformation.

Reproductive Injustice and Genetic Counseling in the Socialist Politics of Disability

ABSTRACT This article examines how socialist experts were integrated into the entrenched global agenda of demographic security. The interplay of supranational and national priorities of reproductive politics is examined through three progressively developing practices: (1) research on “congenital malformations” as an argument for surveillance over women since the mid-1950s; (2) involvement of socialist experts in global debates regarding reproductive responsibility in the 1960s; and (3) revision of approaches to the “right to life” during the 1970s and 1980s. The layering and conversion of these practices explains the role of reproductive injustice in extensive segregation against people with disabilities in post-socialist countries.

Economic growth and stock market development: Evidence from some selected countries

By sustaining the required capital and investment, the financial sector plays a critical role in achieving economic growth and stability. This paper conducts a comprehensive examination of the relationships between stock market development and economic growth in 11 post-socialist countries and China. Unbalanced panel data from selected countries from 1995 to 2020 were used for this study. We wanted to disclose the cointegration of crucial variables in assessing Granger causalities using the Vector Auto-Regressive (VAR) model. Our findings confirm the Neutrality Hypothesis (NLH) when we investigated the existence of an independent association between Economic Growth (EG) and the Composite Index of Stock Market Development (SMD). The study's recommendations emphasize the significance of changing economic policies to account for disparities in economic growth and stock market development to ensure sustainable development in the selected countries.

Tracing nation branding in Slovakia

ABSTRACT Nation branding as a concept and practice of highlighting the country’s most important performance indicators has been important for the state’s conduct in the last 30 years. Although not fully grounded within existing theories, its association with neoliberal state conduct explains its application in the post-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Slovakia, as an example of a new, small, and post-socialist country, has been trying to impact its visibility by means of nation branding. Key to it were the motivations and milestones of European Union accession and the presidency of the Council of the European Union. Despite these significant events, the management and content development of the Slovak brand stands as a particularistic example with creative ideas but lack of brand continuity. Explored by a qualitative approach demonstrating nation branding as a process, of process-tracing and content analysis, this paper follows the trajectory of nation branding in the Slovak sovereign statehood with an emphasis on the European Union. The analysis confirms the particular standing of the Slovak brand.

Concept paper: The evolution of policy approaches to educational inequality in Hungary and Lithuania

Over 30 years after restoring independence and a transition to democratic systems with market economy, post-socialist countries emphasised Western values of freedom and equality, which extended to all policy areas, including education. However, research suggests that transformation of the former socialist bloc have had distinct effects on equity in education depending on contextual variables, requiring a deeper investigation into the education sector. To fill this gap, this concept paper describes the historical policy evolution in a comparative perspective in two post-socialist countries, Hungary and Lithuania, evaluating the period between 1945 until today with a focus on educational inequality. The paper demonstrates the temporal dimension of the shifts in the meaning of educational inequality as a policy concept by analysing how historical legacies of socialism, new narratives during regime change, and the growing influence of global and European values have impacted education policy. Evaluation of recent policy shows a considerable influence of neoliberal policy imperatives on education policy. Overall, the analysis revealed numerous parallels between the two countries, as well as the diverging political trajectories after the regime change, and especially in the post-2010 period.

Food Hub or Not Yet? Exploring the Food Hub Milieu in Czechia

Abstract In global research, food hubs are evaluated as a suitable tool for the development of alternative food networks and the transformation of the agri-food system towards sustainability. However, in Europe, research conclusions in recent years point to a lack of knowledge about operating food hubs. Expanding information about how food hubs work is crucial for improving their operational effectiveness and establishing support from the public sector. Therefore, this exploratory research aims to discover examples of food hubs in Czechia where the term "food hub" is not used and no appropriate equivalent has been developed. This leads to the task of determining the criteria under which it is possible to define existing entities as food hubs. Using several examples supported by qualitative research, the article opens a discussion about the acceptability of the hybridization of alternative food networks. Our findings contribute to the debate about the potential of food hubs to develop local and regional food markets, especially in the context of post-socialist countries, where the conditions are different from the Western states.

Recent Dynamics of Suburban Advancement and Building Densification in Relation to Landslide Exposure in the Main Cities of North-East Romania

We live in a complex and highly dynamic risk society, and given the massive environmental changes, exposure to hazards has become a critical concept that is part of all risk assessments made from a spatial perspective. In urban studies, evaluating exposure to different risk phenomena influences targeted policies and planning that can shape cities while making them safer. As in other post-socialist countries, in Romania, cities have had a highly divergent recent evolution, including processes such as urban shrinkage, the suburban advancement of cities, and urban sprawl. Focusing on seven cities from the North-East Region of Romania, the current paper is an exploratory study regarding the dynamics of exposure to landslides in relation to suburban advancement and densification of cities. Using the official statistics, available GIS databases and information based on satellite images illustrating urban land use changes in the last 20 years, the paper includes a general overview of the overall evolution of urban areas against landslide probability, followed by a more in-depth assessment of specific areas that were subject to functional change and currently include buildings that are susceptible to be affected by landslides. The results and conclusions converge towards the idea that the identified exposed areas, where actual ground movements are currently registered, need special attention from experts and authorities to identify and manage risks. The significance of our findings is underscored by their potential to inform and guide more effective territorial management and urban land use planning strategies.

Commemoration of the Dead in the Context of Alternative Spirituality: Collective and Solitary Rituals

The ritualised commemoration of the deceased belongs to the most common forms of communication with the dead. The meaning that people ascribe to a religious commemoration ritual is determined by a concrete religious doctrine, although it can be influenced by a broader cultural tradition. However, in the context of alternative spiritual currents, there can be many possible interpretations of communication with the dead, as there is no “official” doctrine supported by established institutions. In addition, alternative spirituality is marked by the emphasis on individuality, which results in the predominance of solitary practice. Yet, in various contexts, the tension between individuality and community can be manifested in different forms of ritualised behaviour, ranging from strictly private performances to prescribed group rituals. The paper addresses different levels of individual and collective practice in the context of alternative spirituality in Slovakia, a post-socialist country with a predominantly Christian, mostly Catholic, population. It makes use of the theoretical tools of Mary Douglas’ theory relating to the connection between cosmological beliefs and particular forms of social life. Rituals and ritualised behaviour are considered in the case of the triduum of All Saints’ Eve, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day. The results of ethnographic research on spiritual circles operating in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, have shown that these holidays are perceived and practiced differently by people with different religious or spiritual affiliation. The individual interpretation and the degree of associated ritualised behaviour depend on personal background, as well as the social organisation of a circle to which a practitioner belongs.

Business Equity and Wealth Inequality in Central and Eastern Europe

AbstractThis paper analyzes the contribution of business equity, housing wealth and the rest of net wealth, to wealth inequality in eight post-socialist countries. Using the third wave of Household Finance and Consumption Survey, we decompose wealth inequality by factor components and use bootstrapping to provide statistical inference. We find that business equity, accounting for over 50% of within-country inequality in most cases, significantly surpasses the contribution of housing wealth. We extend our analysis through a novel simulation approach, employing counterfactual scenarios, to assess variations in between-country inequality. We find that the greatest reduction in the wealth inequality between these countries would occur if business equity were distributed more equally.

National retailing after the Second World War: structural changes, differences and the impact of the socialist model on the Czech and Slovak Republics (1953–1989)

ABSTRACT Changes in retail structures, processes, and culture in post-war Europe were strongly affected by the post-war economic boom, the origin of a mass consumer society, and the adaptation of innovations from the United States. Retail structures and the culture of consumption remained different in the Czech and Slovak parts of the former Czechoslovakia after the Second World War, which influenced the development of retail trade in both countries. After the rise to power of the communists, retail was nationalised, leading to centralising trends in the Czech Republic and decentralisation trends in Slovakia. As a result, the retail structure differed in the two countries. While the Czech Republic showed a preference for larger stores, Slovakia focused more on smaller stores, particularly in rural areas. Although the post-war period brought positive changes, such as the growth of retail trade and the restoration of the population’s purchasing power, the socialist economic model, which was controlled by state-owned enterprises, led to insufficient development and investment in retail and a lack of innovation and efficiency. The post-war period represented a key era for the transformation of European retail; the development trends in post-socialist countries, however, differed from other, capitalist countries.

Between commons and anticommons: a nested common-private interface framework

The collapse of the former Soviet Union signaled failure of large-scale experiment in communitarian property. Privatization reform consequently was taken as the start point to transfer the planned economy to a market economy by the post socialist countries. This also occurred in economic transition countries such as China. However, in overcoming the tragedy of the commons privatization might create anticommons problems. Here we develop a nested common-private interface framework from the perspective of resource system and resource units and apply this framework to explain reforms of rangeland property in China and Kyrgyzstan. We confirmed that the root of the dilemma, either caused by commons or anticommons, can be attributed to the interface mismatch between individual elements and common elements. Trying to overcome the dilemma by changing property arrangements alone cannot eliminate the incentive mismatch caused by the common-private interface. Institutions aimed at alleviating the mismatch are accordingly required. Theoretically, this framework converts Ostrom’s concept of commons into liberal commons that the members have options to exit, which is becoming increasingly common in the current global context of marketization. In the real world, this framework can serve to understand the property reform progress of transition countries, and may enlighten future property reforms.

Commodification of academic research in emerging countries

PurposeIn this paper we explore potential barriers for commodification of academic research in emerging countries.Design/methodology/approachWe carried out an exploratory study employing a mixed-method sequential exploratory design. Initially, qualitative interviews were performed to identify cognitive, structural, and ideological barriers associated with commodification. Subsequently, we administered a survey at three universities in Kazakhstan to gather quantitative data. The quantitative insights served to complement our qualitative findings and facilitate the interpretation of the observed patterns within the broader population.FindingsWe found that a too rapid shift toward commercialization exacerbated concerns among faculty members and created obstacles to commodification. The obstacles identified through inductive clustering of themes from exploratory qualitative interviews were grouped into three intentionally broad categories: cognitive, structural, and ideological barriers. We argue that in emerging economies, the path to commodifying academic research should start with developing local infrastructure to address identified structural, cognitive, and ideological barriers. This, in turn, will lead to more successful commercialization and redefine the role of academics in society.Research limitations/implicationsOur study has several limitations related to its empirical scope. We concentrated solely on one country, Kazakhstan. For future research, it is crucial to broaden the investigation to include more studies from the Central Asia region and other emerging economies. We believe that while there may be some minor institutional differences, the findings are generalizable to all post-socialist countries. However, incorporating a diverse range of institutions, particularly those with foreign ownership or private capital, would enhance the comprehensiveness of the findings. Furthermore, collecting a more extensive and balanced sample of responses from industry partners, academics, and students would have provided more valuable insights. By including a broader representation of stakeholders, we could have gained a more nuanced understanding of the complexities surrounding commodification in higher education. Given the exploratory nature of this study, it is essential to regard the findings as a source of inspiration rather than empirical confirmation.Practical implicationsOur research has practical implications for managing universities in emerging markets, as well as important policy implications, both for international actors and local governmental bodies.Social implicationsOur findings carry implications for policymakers. The focus that international institutions place on the matter of commodification and commercialization of knowledge is a positive step. Challenges emerge when this matter is approached with a narrow perspective. Drawing on the empirical context of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a country often overlooked in the literature on emerging markets, we find evidence that knowledge has indeed transformed into a commodity. The rapid shift toward commercialization, driven by substantial institutional pressures, may have occurred too precipitously in this particular context. In light of these findings, we advocate for a more balanced and contextually nuanced discourse concerning both the commodification and commercialization of knowledge.Originality/valueThis study represents one of the few endeavors into exploring commodification within the context of emerging economies. In recent decades, universities have faced substantial pressures to commodify academic research. While there has been a significant volume of research discussing and documenting the success of commodification in developed country universities, those in emerging economies have faced similar pressures without achieving comparable success. This paper delves into the reasons why.

Private sector perspective on corruption and informality: a comparative analysis of Serbia and Croatia

ABSTRACT Corruption and informality in business are research topics that have previously received less attention among scholars, especially in Southeast Europe. To fill this gap, and to bring some clarity to the phenomena of corruption and informality in the private sector, this article addresses the extent and manifestations of corrupt and informal practices in business in two post-socialist countries of ex-Yugoslavia, Serbia and Croatia. Analysis is performed on primary data from surveys of businesspeople in both countries, with the main aim of revealing their understanding and acceptance of illicit practices and determinants of businesspeople informal behaviour in the SME sector. The acceptance of four types of informal practices, namely: treating, giving and receiving gifts, networks, and favouring, is modelled using Probit estimation technique. The results reveal that the corrupt behaviour of businesspeople in two observed countries is related to their acceptance of informal practices. Additionally, the manifestations of these practices in real business-to-business and business-to-government relations are shown.

Eco-Innovation – Pioneer of the Green Economy in the Development of the Entrepreneurial Environment. Study Case: Eco-Innovation Performance across Post-Socialist Countries in Europe

Eco-Innovation – Pioneer of the Green Economy in the Development of the Entrepreneurial Environment. Study Case: Eco-Innovation Performance across Post-Socialist Countries in Europe

Inclusion in education: Its bonds and bridges

Social AbstractSocial capital is one of the core concepts in the studies of education. This concept is broadly used in relation to inclusion. At the same time, the analysis of social capital of parents of children enrolled in mainstream schools in post-socialist countries is still missing in the literature. Based on a survey carried out in Russian mainstream schools in 2020 – 2021 by means of regression analysis with interaction terms and principal component analysis, we attempt to fill in this gap by examining and comparing social capital types among the parents of children with and without special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). On the one hand, the parents of a child with SEND have limited access to social capital resources. On the other hand, the level of structural social capital is higher for this group of parents as compared with those who have a child without SEND. This indicates that parents of children with SEND seek to interact with other parents more often than parents of children without SEND and are more actively involved in activities of public organizations and associations. When school policies prove to be more accessible and inclusive, parents of children with SEND decrease their bonding and increase bridging ties. This study outlines the main challenges of acquiring the social capital in post-socialist cultural and political context and formulates recommendations on how to facilitate social capital of families of children with SEND.