Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Warum hat Russland den Zug verpasst?

Why has Russia missed the boat?

  • Aufsätze
  • Published:
Leviathan

Tout est religieux en Russie. Rein n’est légal, rien n’est juste. Tout est ou veut être saint. Jules Michelet (1851)

Choteli kak luče, no polučilos’ kak obyčno. (Wir haben das Beste versucht, aber es kam das Übliche heraus.) Viktor Černomyrdin

Abstract

The article asks the question why Russia missed the boat of successful transformation. All transformation countries experienced a transition crisis during the first two or three years. But then in Eastern Central Europe, particularly in Poland, a recovery period set in. In Russia the crisis turned into a ten year depression. Transformation analysis tries to identify the immediate causes for success and failure among which initial conditions and policy measures are predominant. The corollary of the analysis is the pivotal role played by a strong state in the reform process. So the problem boils down to the question why was Russia unable to build an effective state in transformation. The factors which are at work here, are of a geographical and a more distant historical nature. The distance to Europe and the chance to become a member of the Union soon, certainly play a role. We then discuss the attitude towards the rule of law and legality, civil community, and mental models determined by religious beliefs. The upshot is that Russia has to travel a much longer way to an effective modern state and a competitive economic order than the countries of Eastern Central Europe.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Literatur

  • Ajnenkiel, Andrzej, 1997: The Influence of the Constitution of 3 May on Constitutional Life of the Second Republic (1918–1939): Reality and Myth, in: Samuel Fiszman (Hrsg.), Constitution and Reform in Eighteenth-Century Poland. The Constitution of 3 May 1791, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, S. 519–529.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balcerowicz, Leszek, 1995: Socialism, Capitalism, Transformation, Budapest: Central European University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berg, Andrew et al., 1999: The Evolution of Output in Transition Economies: Explaining the Differences, IMF Working Paper WP 99/73, Washington: IMF.

    Google Scholar 

  • Binmore, Ken, 1990: Evolution and Utilitarianism: Social Contract III, in: Constitutional Political Economy 1, S. 1–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brada, Josef C., 1993: The Transformation from Communism to Capitalism: How Far? How Fast?, in: Post-Soviet Affairs 9, S. 87–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brzezinski, Mark, 1998: The Struggle for Constitutionalism in Poland, Basingstoke: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bulgakow, S., 1996: Die Orthodoxie. Die Lehre der orthodoxen Kirche, Trier: Paulinus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buss, Andreas, 1989: The Economic Ethics of Russian-Orthodox Christianity. Part I and II, in: International Sociology 4, S. 235–258, 447–472.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denzau, Arthur T. und Douglass C. North, 1994: Shared Mental Models: Ideologies and Institutions, in: Kyklos 47, S. 3–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • EBRD, 1999: Transition Report 1999, London: EBRD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Engels, Friedrich, 1952: Brief an Danielson, 1893, in: Marx-Engels Ausgewählte Schriften Vol. II, Berlin: Dietz.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ericson, Richard E., 1999: The Post-Soviet Russian Economic System: An Industrial Feudalism?, SITE Working Paper No. 140, Stockholm: Stockholm School of Economics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, Stanley und Ratna Sahay, 1999: The Transition Economies After Ten Years, Conference Paper Ten Years After: Transition and Growth in Post-Communist Countries, Warsaw: CASE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaddy, Clifford G. und Barry W. Ickes, 1998: Russia’s Virtual Economy, in: Foreign Affairs 77–5, S. 53–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gatrell, Peter, 1986: The Tsarist Economy 1850–1917, London: Batsford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graf, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1999: Die geschichtliche Rolle von Religion im Modernisierungsprozess der Wirtschaft, Handbuch der Wirtschaftsethik (W. Korff et al. Hrsg.), Bd. 1, Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, S. 567–596.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gustafson, Thane, 1999: Capitalism Russian-Style, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harnack, Adolf, 1913: Der Geist der morgenländischen Kirche im Unterschied von der abendländischen, Sitzungsberichte der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, S. 157–183.

  • Hishow, Ognian, 1999: Die russische Wirtschaft nach dem Abschied von den Reformen. Wirtschaftspolitische Stagnation und Schuldenfalle, Berichte des Bundesinstituts für ostwissenschaftliche und internationale Studien 22.

  • Intriligator, Michael D., 1997: The Role of Institutions in the Transition to a Market Economy, in: Tarmo Haavisto (Hrsg.), The transition to a market economy: transformation and reform in the Baltic states, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, S. 222–240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jedruch, Jacek, 1998: Constitutions, Elections and Legislatures of Poland, 1493–1993. A Guide to Their History, New York: EJI Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitschelt, Herbert, 1999: Accounting for outcomes of post-communist regime change. Causal depth or shallowness in rival explanations, paper for the 1999 Annual Meeting of the APSA, Atlanta, September 1–5.

  • Knight, Jack, 1995: Models, Interpretations, and Theories: Constructing Explanations of Institutional Emergence and Change, in: Jack Knight und Itai Sened (Hrsg.), Explaining Social Institutions, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, S. 95–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kornai, János, 1992: The Socialist System. The Political Economy of Communism, Oxford: Clarendon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kornai, János, 1993: Transformational Recession. A General Phenomenon Examined Through the Example of Hungary’s Development, Discussion Papers No. 1, Budapest: Collegium Budapest.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leite, Carlos und Jens Weidmann, 1999: Does Mother Nature Corrupt? Natural Resources, Corruption, and Economic GDrowth, IMF Working Paper WP/99/85, Washington: International Monetary Fund.

    Google Scholar 

  • Litwack, John M., 1991: Legality and Market Reform in Soviet-Type Economies, in: Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 5, No. 4, S. 77–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcuse, Herbert, 1958: Soviet Marxism. A Critical Analysis, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marx, Karl, 1978: Brief an V.I. Sassulitsch, 1881, in: Marx-Engels Werke Vol. 19, Berlin: Dietz.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marx, Karl und Friedrich Engels, 1952: Vorrede zur russischen Ausgabe des Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei von 1882, in: Marx-Engels Ausgewählte Schriften Vol. 1, Berlin: Dietz.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Melo, Martha et al., 1997: Circumstances and Choice: The Role of Initial Conditions and Policies in Transition Economies, Policy Research Working Paper 1866, Washington: The World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michelet, Jules, 1968: Légendes démocratiques du Nord, Paris: PUF.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller-Armack, Alfred, 1959: Zur Religionssoziologie des europäischen Ostens, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv 61 (1945), wieder abgedruckt in: ders., Religion und Wirtschaft, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, S. 328–370.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murrell, Peter, 1993: What is Shock Therapy? What Did it Do in Poland and Russia?, in: Post-Soviet Affairs 9, S. 111–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newcity, Michael, 1997: Russian Legal Tradition and the Rule of Law, in: Jeffrey D. Sachs und Katharina Pistor (Hrsg.), The Rule of Law and Economic Reform in Russia Boulder: Westview, S. 41–53.

  • North, Douglass C., 1990: Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • North, Douglass C. und Robert Paul Thomas, 1973: The Rise of the Western World. A New Economic History, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nove, Alec, 1995: Economics of Transition: Some Gaps and Illusions, in: Beverly Crawford (Hrsg.), Markets, States and Democracy. The Political Economy of Post-Communist Transformation, Boulder: Westview, S. 227–245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pipes, Richard, 1977: Russia under the Old Regime, Harmondsworth: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Portes, Richard, 1994: Transformation traps, in: Economic Journal 104, S. 1178–1189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poznanski, Kazimierz Z. (Hrsg.), 1993: Stabilization and Privatization in Poland, Boston: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, Robert D., 1993: Making Democracy Work. Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryll, Andreas, 1994: Transition to a Market Economy as the Transformation of Coordination, in: Hans-Jürgen Wagener (Hrsg.), The Political Economy of Transformation, Heidelberg: Physica, S. 45–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Savramis, D., 1963: Max Webers Beitrag zum besseren Verständnis der ostkirchlichen „außerweltlichen“ Askese, in: Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, Sonderheft 7, S. 334–358.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon, Gerhard, 2000: Rußland — eine Kultur am Rande Europas, in: BIOst (Hrsg.), Rußland in Europa? Innere Entwicklungen und internationale Beziehungen — heute, Köln: Böhlau Verlag, S. 11–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, Joseph E., 1999: Wither Reform? Ten Years of the Transition, Keynote Address, Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics, World Bank: Washington.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sutela, Pekka, 1999: Russia: Rise of a Dual Economy, in: Transition, Vol. 10, No. 5, S. 20–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vajnštejn, Al’bert, 1968: Narodnij dochod Rossii i SSSR, Moskau: Nauka.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagener, Hans-Jürgen, 1997: Transformation als historisches Phänomen Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte 2, S. 179–191.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, Hans-Jürgen, 2000: Rückkehr nach Europa, Working Paper No. 99/16, Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt, in: H.G. Nutzinger (Hrsg.), Osterweiterung und Transformationskrisen, Schriften des Vereins für Sozialpolitik Bd. 277, Berlin: Duncker u. Humblot, S. 93–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walicki, Andrzej, 1987: Legal Philosophies of Russian Liberalism New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber, Max, 1996: Die Wirtschaftsethik der Weltreligionen. Hinduismus und Buddhismus, Max Weber Gesamtausgabe I/20, Tübingen: Mohr.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Hans-Jürgen Wagener
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Hans-Jürgen Wagener, Professor für Volkswirtschaftslehre an der Europa-Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder), geschäftsführender Direktor des Frankfurter Instituts für Transformationsstudien, Postfach 1786, 15207 Frankfurt (Oder)

Der Beitrag ist während meines Aufenthalts am Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin entstanden. Meinen Co-Fellows ist für ausführliche Diskussionen, dem Kolleg für die gebotenen Forschungsmöglichkeiten zu danken.

About this article

Cite this article

Wagener, HJ. Warum hat Russland den Zug verpasst?. Leviathan 29, 110–140 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11578-001-0008-8

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11578-001-0008-8

Search

Navigation