Gerald M. Easter
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801451195
- eISBN:
- 9780801465710
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801451195.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
The postcommunist transitions produced two very different types of states. The “contractual” state is associated with the countries of Eastern Europe, which moved toward democratic regimes, ...
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The postcommunist transitions produced two very different types of states. The “contractual” state is associated with the countries of Eastern Europe, which moved toward democratic regimes, consensual relations with society, and clear boundaries between political power and economic wealth. The “predatory” state is associated with the successors to the USSR, which instead developed authoritarian regimes, coercive relations with society, and poorly defined boundaries between the political and economic realms. This book shows how the cumulative result of the many battles between state coercion and societal capital over taxation gave rise to these distinctive transition outcomes. The book highlights the interconnected paths that led from the fiscal crisis of the old regime through the revenue bargains of transitional tax regimes to the eventual reconfiguration of state–society relations. Focused comparison of Poland and Russia exemplify postcommunism's divergent institutional forms. The Polish case shows how conflicts over taxation influenced the emergence of a rule-of-law contractual state, social-market capitalism, and civil society. The Russian case reveals how revenue imperatives reinforced the emergence of a rule-by-law predatory state, concessions-style capitalism, and dependent society.Less
The postcommunist transitions produced two very different types of states. The “contractual” state is associated with the countries of Eastern Europe, which moved toward democratic regimes, consensual relations with society, and clear boundaries between political power and economic wealth. The “predatory” state is associated with the successors to the USSR, which instead developed authoritarian regimes, coercive relations with society, and poorly defined boundaries between the political and economic realms. This book shows how the cumulative result of the many battles between state coercion and societal capital over taxation gave rise to these distinctive transition outcomes. The book highlights the interconnected paths that led from the fiscal crisis of the old regime through the revenue bargains of transitional tax regimes to the eventual reconfiguration of state–society relations. Focused comparison of Poland and Russia exemplify postcommunism's divergent institutional forms. The Polish case shows how conflicts over taxation influenced the emergence of a rule-of-law contractual state, social-market capitalism, and civil society. The Russian case reveals how revenue imperatives reinforced the emergence of a rule-by-law predatory state, concessions-style capitalism, and dependent society.
Akos Rona-Tas and Alya Guseva
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780804768573
- eISBN:
- 9780804789592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804768573.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Economic Sociology
This chapter lays out the historical background for the development of postcommunist card markets. It revisits theories of the transition, focusing on the three distinct development paths the ...
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This chapter lays out the historical background for the development of postcommunist card markets. It revisits theories of the transition, focusing on the three distinct development paths the economies of the eight countries took: the path taken by the Central European countries, which started with an economic recession but soon integrated into the European Union and the developed world; the path navigated by the economies of East Europe, which experienced more tumultuous and protracted transition and a slower European and global integration; and the path traveled by China and Vietnam, two fast-growing East Asian economies that started from an overall much lower level of economic development keeping a strong role of the Communist state in the economy. The chapter discusses the creation of commercial banks and emphasizes the similarities among the countries’ developmental paths. It also criticizes the market transition theories for ignoring the demand side of market building.Less
This chapter lays out the historical background for the development of postcommunist card markets. It revisits theories of the transition, focusing on the three distinct development paths the economies of the eight countries took: the path taken by the Central European countries, which started with an economic recession but soon integrated into the European Union and the developed world; the path navigated by the economies of East Europe, which experienced more tumultuous and protracted transition and a slower European and global integration; and the path traveled by China and Vietnam, two fast-growing East Asian economies that started from an overall much lower level of economic development keeping a strong role of the Communist state in the economy. The chapter discusses the creation of commercial banks and emphasizes the similarities among the countries’ developmental paths. It also criticizes the market transition theories for ignoring the demand side of market building.
Akos Rona-Tas and Alya Guseva
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780804768573
- eISBN:
- 9780804789592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804768573.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Economic Sociology
The conclusion highlights the common problems that market makers in all of the countries faced, but it also emphasizes the differential successes and sometimes different paths and sequences of events ...
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The conclusion highlights the common problems that market makers in all of the countries faced, but it also emphasizes the differential successes and sometimes different paths and sequences of events that accompanied the development of card markets in the eight countries. It also notes that in several of the countries, most unambiguously in China, the central purpose of the card market shifted from providing a tool of convenience to customers to offering an instrument of economic control for the state. The discussion then turns to theoretical issues of social order and market emergence, and emphasized the implications of this analysis for the study of globalization, postcommunist transitions and marketsLess
The conclusion highlights the common problems that market makers in all of the countries faced, but it also emphasizes the differential successes and sometimes different paths and sequences of events that accompanied the development of card markets in the eight countries. It also notes that in several of the countries, most unambiguously in China, the central purpose of the card market shifted from providing a tool of convenience to customers to offering an instrument of economic control for the state. The discussion then turns to theoretical issues of social order and market emergence, and emphasized the implications of this analysis for the study of globalization, postcommunist transitions and markets
Akos Rona-Tas and Alya Guseva
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780804768573
- eISBN:
- 9780804789592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804768573.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Economic Sociology
This chapter establishes market emergence as a problem analytically distinct from market functioning and introduces two sets of rules: generative and functional. Credit cards are conceived of as ...
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This chapter establishes market emergence as a problem analytically distinct from market functioning and introduces two sets of rules: generative and functional. Credit cards are conceived of as global products that are both a means of payment and an instrument of credit. Frequent references to the US credit card market are justified by its role as a performative ideal type--a model that not only helps to explicitly describe postcommunist credit card markets but also attempts to shape them by imposing a set of implicit instructions. The chapter provides the basic statistics of payment card markets in the eight postcommunist countries and concludes with an overview of the remaining chapters.Less
This chapter establishes market emergence as a problem analytically distinct from market functioning and introduces two sets of rules: generative and functional. Credit cards are conceived of as global products that are both a means of payment and an instrument of credit. Frequent references to the US credit card market are justified by its role as a performative ideal type--a model that not only helps to explicitly describe postcommunist credit card markets but also attempts to shape them by imposing a set of implicit instructions. The chapter provides the basic statistics of payment card markets in the eight postcommunist countries and concludes with an overview of the remaining chapters.
Alya Guseva and Akos Rona-Tas
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780804768573
- eISBN:
- 9780804789592
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804768573.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Economic Sociology
This book draws on original fieldwork to provide a comparative analysis of emerging credit card markets in eight countries--the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, China and ...
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This book draws on original fieldwork to provide a comparative analysis of emerging credit card markets in eight countries--the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, China and Vietnam. The problem of market emergence is posed as analytically distinct from market functioning. Card markets are viewed as being actively constructed, rather than emerging spontaneously and following the US blueprint. The process of market construction involves solving a set of puzzles related to the credit card as a product that is both a means of payment and an instrument of credit. These puzzles are: standardization, information asymmetry, information sharing, market origination and expansion. They were solved differently in each of the countries, and the resulting markets are neither identical to the “Western” blueprint, nor to each other. The book focuses on the trajectories of market development in the eight countries from the moment the first cards were issued to the present time, underscoring both similarities and differences between countries.Less
This book draws on original fieldwork to provide a comparative analysis of emerging credit card markets in eight countries--the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, China and Vietnam. The problem of market emergence is posed as analytically distinct from market functioning. Card markets are viewed as being actively constructed, rather than emerging spontaneously and following the US blueprint. The process of market construction involves solving a set of puzzles related to the credit card as a product that is both a means of payment and an instrument of credit. These puzzles are: standardization, information asymmetry, information sharing, market origination and expansion. They were solved differently in each of the countries, and the resulting markets are neither identical to the “Western” blueprint, nor to each other. The book focuses on the trajectories of market development in the eight countries from the moment the first cards were issued to the present time, underscoring both similarities and differences between countries.
Marek Dabrowski
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- March 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198829911
- eISBN:
- 9780191868368
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198829911.003.0059
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The aim of macroeconomic stabilization is restoring price stability and reducing monetary, fiscal, and balance-of-payment imbalances. Macroeconomic stabilization is particularly needed when a country ...
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The aim of macroeconomic stabilization is restoring price stability and reducing monetary, fiscal, and balance-of-payment imbalances. Macroeconomic stabilization is particularly needed when a country suffers from high inflation or hyperinflation. To stop such an inflation one can choose between three types of anti-inflationary programmes: orthodox money-based, orthodox exchange rate-based, and heterodox. Other cases of macrostabilization policy include reducing excessive fiscal deficit and public debt before they become monetized, dealing with the deflationary consequences of the systemic banking crisis, reducing the excessive current account deficit, dealing with the consequences of a sudden stop in capital flows, and fighting chronic moderate inflation. Fiscal rules, and the independence of monetary and fiscal institutions such as central banks, play an important role in preventing macroeconomic instability. National macroeconomic policies are also monitored from outside, for example by the International Monetary Fund and European Commission (in the case of EU member states).Less
The aim of macroeconomic stabilization is restoring price stability and reducing monetary, fiscal, and balance-of-payment imbalances. Macroeconomic stabilization is particularly needed when a country suffers from high inflation or hyperinflation. To stop such an inflation one can choose between three types of anti-inflationary programmes: orthodox money-based, orthodox exchange rate-based, and heterodox. Other cases of macrostabilization policy include reducing excessive fiscal deficit and public debt before they become monetized, dealing with the deflationary consequences of the systemic banking crisis, reducing the excessive current account deficit, dealing with the consequences of a sudden stop in capital flows, and fighting chronic moderate inflation. Fiscal rules, and the independence of monetary and fiscal institutions such as central banks, play an important role in preventing macroeconomic instability. National macroeconomic policies are also monitored from outside, for example by the International Monetary Fund and European Commission (in the case of EU member states).