On the long-run economic performance of ex-communist economies, 1990-2019

Abstract

We evaluate the long-run economic performance of 29 ex-Communist economies over the period 1990-2019, through growth and level decomposition
exercises. Among ex-Communists economies, we find that over the last decade the bulk of the international variation in GDP per worker is accounted for by the
cross-country variation in factor inputs. Growth decomposition exercises suggest that ex-Communist economies in Central Europe exhibits robust TFP growth, consistent with TFP growth of western market economies. More specifically, we find
that the best performing ex-Communist economies are the ones that experienced the shortest spell of Communism and have “westernized” institutions, whereas the worst performing economies have experienced longer spells of Communism and
are more likely to have authoritarian rulers.