The Economic Effects of Political Institutions: Are Post-Communist Countries Different?(Report‪)‬

Introduction Iversen and Soskice (2005) suggest that the observed variation in income redistribution among developed countries is rooted in historical institutions that go back as far as the 19th century. However, the framework they propose does little to explain the patterns of redistribution in countries such as those in Central and Eastern Europe, that do not seem to fit any of the existing theoretical models. On the other hand, the common past that these countries share builds an expectation regarding the way they approach similar problems, thus justifying the choice of this particular area for our analysis.