Conclusions

The hypothesis tested at length in this book through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies was that institutions are the underlying determinant of the long-run performance of economies. To that end, several preliminary questions had to be answered. A first step in the analysis was to amass the necessary theoretical tools needed for the understanding of a complex institutional transformation such as the one that has been taking place in CEECs (see Chapter 1). Based on this theoretical framework the next step was, first, to identify the types of capitalism that are emerging in the CEECs and, second, to analyse their capacity to enhance the economic performance of the region. These questions were addressed in Chapter 2. The first question was answered through an exploratory operationalization of the models of capitalism theory in the case of CEECs, while the second was dealt with in a cross-country and time-series quantitative analysis. For this purpose, an econometric model was worked out based on panel data for ten transition economies from Eastern Europe. Various economic and institutional indicators were tested for their impact on growth rates in the CEECs.