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The Economics of the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall

Author

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  • MANFRED TIETZEL

    (Universität Duisberg)

  • MARION WEBER

    (Universität Duisberg)

Abstract

The rise and fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain are explained in the context of an exit-voice framework presuming rational actors. It is shown that the prohibition of exit by establishing what we call “political costs of individual mobility†was a conditio sine qua non for the effective suppression of internal political opposition in Eastern Europe, and in East Germany in particular. The analysis of the costs of emigration and of political protest as instruments of autocratic rule (mobility politics) leads to interesting and surprising implications as to the general stability of dictatorial regimes.

Suggested Citation

  • Manfred Tietzel & Marion Weber, 1994. "The Economics of the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall," Rationality and Society, , vol. 6(1), pages 58-78, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ratsoc:v:6:y:1994:i:1:p:58-78
    DOI: 10.1177/1043463194006001005
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gordon Tullock, 1971. "The paradox of revolution," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 89-99, September.
    2. Brennan,Geoffrey & Buchanan,James M., 2006. "The Power to Tax," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521027922, October.
    3. Bode, Otto F. & Tietzel, Manfred & Weber, Marion, 1991. "Die Logik der sanften Revolution," Beiträge zur Ordnungstheorie und Ordnungspolitik, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen;Walter Eucken Institut, Freiburg, Germany, edition 1, volume 127, number urn:isbn:9783161457999, December.
    4. Jack Hirshleifer, 1983. "From weakest-link to best-shot: The voluntary provision of public goods," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 371-386, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Nicolas Olsson-Yaouzis, 2010. "Revolutionaries, despots, and rationality," Rationality and Society, , vol. 22(3), pages 283-299, August.
    2. Scott Gehlbach, 2006. "A Formal Model of Exit and Voice," Rationality and Society, , vol. 18(4), pages 395-418, November.

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