Social welfare dynamics in post-socialist countries: Unveiling the secrets of success

Abstract

Since the global collapse of the socialist command economy, a significant differentiation in social and economic development within the former socialist world has been observed. Economists have pointed out a number of factors which could explain this disparity. One of the most important is market reform of the economy freeing Smith's "invisible hand" that with the support of inclusive political and economical institutions makes it possible for the national economy to thrive and thus achieve higher welfare for the nation. In this article, the influence of various factors on social well-being in the post-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe is analyzed. Our analysis has revealed that such factors as the level of economic freedom, intensity of economic reform, fostering of human capital, and level of national economy output play a significant role in creating a positive social welfare dynamics in transitional nations. It appears that the importance of these factors may vary within the cross-section of selected countries; thus, different policy patterns with regard to social welfare could be applied depending on factor combinations existing in some specific countries.