Economic Effects of Post-Socialist Constitutions 25 Years from the Outset of Transition: The Constitutional Political Economy Approach

This book focuses on the nexus between constitutions adopted by post-socialist countries of Europe and Asia after 1989 and economic transition in the region. It takes the perspective of Constitutional Political Economy and argues for the role of constitutions as commitment-enhancing mechanisms for political decision makers in the field of post-socialist economic reforms. For the first time in economic studies of constitutions this book employs the synthetic control method - a novel empirical approach allowing to account for endogeneity and causality issues. The blend of theory (including evolutionary insights) and empirical results allows to formulate recommendations for constitution drafters, emphasizing the role of factual constitutional court independence for successful economic reforms.

Contents: Constitutions and economic policy - The theoretical nexus - Post-socialist constitutions in a nutshell - Regression analyses of economic effects of post-socialist constitutions - The synthetic control approach to estimating economic effects of post-socialist constitutions - An evolutionary perspective on the role of post-socialist constitutions.