Heinemann, Friedrich, Grigoriadis Theocharis, (2015), “Origins of Reform Resistance and the Southern European Regime”, ZEW Working Paper no 20, Ιούλιος 2013
This analysis deals with reform obstacles in general and with the particular challenges of institutional change under the conditions of Southern Europe in particular. It presents a survey on the possible drivers of reform resistance. This includes very different qualities of approaches ranging from classical economics and politicaleconomic explanations to more innovative explanations linked to behavioral economics. This classifying approach on potential reform obstacles is novel with respect to its broadness and systematization and offers a basis for the measurement and empirical testing. The subsequent part analyzes qualitatively and quantitatively to which extent the “Southern European regime” may imply a particular relevance of some of the potential reform obstacles classified before. While a generalization on common factors is always at risk of oversimplification, the literature clearly points towards some relevant similarities which contrast the southern EU member countries with the rest of Europe. Reform ability profiles quantify several of the reform obstacles (or reform drivers) to compare EU countries in their likely reform predisposition. These profiles confirm particular Southern European weaknesses which tend to reduce the political-economic feasibility of long-term reforms: a low effectiveness in poverty protection, high intertemporal discounting and uncertainty avoidance, a poor information level of the population and deeply shattered trust in national institutions. In a microeconometric analysis based on Eurobarometer survey data, the analysis leaves the highly aggregated level and looks into the individual heterogeneity in reform acceptance. It is shown that several of the reform obstacles identified in theory are also empirically correlated with the individual inclination to accept reforms. The perception of procedural fairness (i.e. satisfaction with the way democracy works) together with trust are the keys for the acceptance of reforms. The impression that outsiders, contrary to theoretical expectations, do not push hard for institutional change is confirmed by the micro-data.
Σχετικές Αναρτήσεις
- Van der Marel, Erik, (2016), “Who Reforms for Higher Productivity?”, European Centre for International Political Economy, Μάρτιος
- Eichhorst, Werner, Marx, Paul, Wehner, Caroline,(2016), “Labor Market Reforms in Europe: Towards More Flexicure Labor Markets?”, IZA DP No. 9863, Απρίλιος