Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Services Policy Reform and Economic Growth in Transition Economies

  • Published:
Review of World Economics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Major changes have occurred in the structure of former centrally planned economies, including a sharp rise in the share of services in GDP, employment, and international transactions. However, large differences exist across transition economies with respect to services intensity and services policy reforms. We find that reforms in policies toward financial and infrastructure services, including telecommunications, power, and transport, are highly correlated with inward FDI. Controlling for regressors commonly used in the growth literature, we find that measures of services policy reform are statistically significant explanatory variables for the post-1990 economic performance of transition economies. These findings suggest services policies should be considered more generally in empirical analyses of economic growth.

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

Access this article

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Baumol, W. (1967). Macroeconomics of Unbalanced Growth. American Economic Review 57(3): 415–426.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bićanić, I., and M. Škreb (1991). The Service Sector in East European Economies: What Role Can It Play in Future Development. Communist Economies and Economic Transformation 3 (1): 221–233.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Campos, N., and F. Coricelli (2002). Growth in Transition: What We Know, What We Don’t, and What We Should. Journal of Economic Literature 40 (3): 793–836.

    Google Scholar 

  4. EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) (2004). Transition Report 2004. London: EBRD.

  5. Eschenbach, F. (2006). Reform of Services Policy and Commitments in Trade Agreements. In S. Evenett and B. Hoekman (eds.), Economic Development and Multilateral Cooperation. London: Palgrave-MacMillan and World Bank.

  6. Falcetti, E., M. Raiser, and P. Sanfey (2002). Defying the Odds: Initial Conditions, Reforms, and Growth in the First Decade of Transition. Journal of Comparative Economics 30 (2): 229–250.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Francois, J. F. (1990). Producer Services, Scale, and the Division of Labor. Oxford Economic Papers 42 (4): 715–729.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Francois, J. F., and K. Reinert (1996). The Role of Services in the Structure of Production and Trade: Stylized Facts from a Cross-Country Analysis. Asia-Pacific Economic Review 2 (1): 35–43.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Fuchs, V. (1968). The Service Economy. New York: Columbia University Press.

  10. Konan, D., and K. Maskus (2006). Quantifying the Impact of Services Liberalization in a Developing Country. Journal of Development Economics 81 (1): 142–162.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Levine, R., and D. Renelt (1992). A Sensitivity Analysis of Cross-Country Growth Regressions. American Economic Review 82 (4): 942–963.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Levine, R. (1997). Financial Development and Economic Growth: Views and Agenda. Journal of Economic Literature 35 (2): 688–726.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Lucas, R. E. Jr. (1988). On the Mechanics of Economic Development. Journal of Monetary Economics 22 (1): 3–42.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Markusen, J., T. Rutherford, and D. Tarr (2005). Trade and Direct Investment in Producer Services and the Domestic Market for Expertise. Canadian Journal of Economic 38 (3): 758–777.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Mattoo, A., R. Rathindran, and A. Subramanian (2006). Measuring Services Trade Liberalization and Its Impact on Economic Growth: An Illustration. Journal of Economic Integration 21 (1): 64–98.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Roland, G. (2000). Transition and Economics: Politics, Markets and Firms. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

  17. Romer, Paul M. (1990). Endogenous Technological Change. Journal of Political Economy 98 (5): 71–102.

    Google Scholar 

  18. World Bank. (2005). From Disintegration to Reintegration:Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union in International Trade. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Felix Eschenbach.

Additional information

JEL no.

F14, F43, O14, O40

About this article

Cite this article

Eschenbach, F., Hoekman, B. Services Policy Reform and Economic Growth in Transition Economies. Rev. World Econ. 142, 746–764 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10290-006-0091-7

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10290-006-0091-7

Keywords

Navigation