by Robert Fritzsch (Author)
About the Author
Robert Fritzsch is research associate at the chair of institutional economics and economic policy at the University of Erfurt.
About this book
Robert Fritzsch provides an institutional economic analysis of the Great Recession. The author shows that institutions matter as determinants of crisis resilience - however in a different way than predicted by the prominent theories of Olson (1982) and North, Wallis, Weingast (2009), as the crisis was most severe in developed countries with democratic political institutions, rule of law and restrained regulations. The empirical results support theoretical predictions only within the sub-group of developed countries, where rule of law and restrained regulations show a positive association with crisis resilience.
Brief contents
1. Introduction 1
2. Theories of Adaptive Efficiency and the Determinants of Crisis Resilience 5
2.1 Definitions of the Main Concepts and Outline of the Analytical Framework 5
2.2 Mancur Olson’s Account of Adaptive Efficiency 12
2.2.1 Olson’s General Account 12
2.2.2 Olson’s Account of the Determinants of Economic Institutions 13
2.2.3 Olson’s Account of the Determinants of Crisis Resilience 16
2.2.4 Summary and Limits of Olson’s Account 25
2.3 North, Wallis & Weingast’s Account of Adaptive Efficiency 27
2.3.1 NWW’s General Account 27
2.3.2 NWW’s Account of the Determinants of Economic Institutions 30
2.3.3 NWW’s Account of the Determinants of Crisis Resilience 36
2.3.4 Summary and Limits of NWW’s Account 42
2.4 The Missing Aspect of Adaptive Efficiency - The Costs of Adaption and the Importance of Structural Stability 45
2.5 Summary of the Previous Discussion - The Theoretical Concept of Adaptive Efficiency 48
3. The Empirical Approach to Studying the Determinants of Crisis Resilience 55
3.1 Review of the Empirical Literature on Institutions, Interest Groups and Growth 55
3.2 Outline of the Empirical Approach to Testing the Determinants of Crisis Resilience 60
4. The Empirical Analysis of Adaptive Efficiency during the Great Recession 2008 to 2012 67
4.1 The Definition of the Dependent Variables 67
4.1.1 Literature Review and Discussion of Potential Dependent Variables 67
4.1.2 Operationalizing the Dependent Variables Representing Crisis Resilience 71
4.2 The Selection of Control Variables and Control Models 77
4.2.1 Literature Review of Potential Control Variables 77
4.2.2 Selecting Control Variables 83
4.3 The Empirical Analysis Part I: Economic Institutions and Crisis Resilience 92
4.3.1 Rule of Law and Crisis Resilience 93
4.3.2 Business Regulations and Crisis Resilience 104
4.3.3 Labor Regulations and Crisis Resilience 115
4.3.4 Financial Regulations and Crisis Resilience 132
4.3.5 Government Size and Crisis Resilience 139
4.3.6 Exchange Rate Regimes and Crisis Resilience 146
4.3.7 Summary – Economic Institutions and Crisis Resilience 153
4.4 The Empirical Analysis Part II: Political Institutions, Interest Group Activity and Crisis Resilience 164
4.4.1 Political Institutions and Crisis Resilience 165
4.4.2 Interest Group Activity and Crisis Resilience 180
4.4.3 Summary - Political Institutions, Interest Group Activity and Crisis Resilience 190
5. Conclusion and Outlook 195
Appendices 199
References 362
Series: Wirtschaft und Politik
Paperback: 379 pages
Publisher: Springer Gabler; 1st ed. 2019 edition (September 27, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 3658274085
ISBN-13: 978-3658274085