Institutional Persistence in Eastern Europe: Economic and Political Legacies of Empires and Communism

This dissertation seeks to advance our understanding of the roles that institutions play in economic development. How do institutions evolve? What mechanisms are responsible for their persistence? What effects do they have on economic development?

I address these questions using historical and contemporary data from Eastern Europe and Russia. This area is relatively understudied by development economists. It also has a very interesting history. For one thing, for several centuries it was divided between different empires. For another, it experienced wars and socialism in the 20th century. I use some of these exogenous shocks as quasi-natural social experiments to study the institutional transformations and its effects on economic development both in the short and long run.

This first chapter explores whether economic, social, and political institutions vary in their resistance to policies designed to remove them. The empirical context for the analysis is Romania from 1690 to the 2000s. Romania represents an excellent laboratory for studying the persistence of different types of historical institutional legacies. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Romania was split between the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires, where political and economic institutions differed. The Habsburgs imposed less extractive institutions relative to the Ottomans: stronger rule of law, a more stable and predictable state, a more developed civil society, and less corruption. In the 20th century, the Romanian Communist regime tried deliberately to homogenize the country along all relevant dimensions. It was only partially successful. Using a regression discontinuity design, I document the persistence of economic outcomes, social capital, and political attitudes. First, I document remarkable convergence in urbanization, education, unemployment, and income between the two former empires. Second, regarding social capital, no significant differences in organizational membership, trust in bureaucracy, and corruption persist today. Finally, even though the Communists tried to change all political attitudes, significant discontinuities exist in current voting behavior at the former Habsburg-Ottoman border. Using data from the parliamentary elections of 1996-2008, I find that former Habsburg rule decreases by around 6 percentage points the vote share of the major post-Communist left party and increases by around 2 and 5 percentage points the vote shares of the main anti-Communist and liberal parties, respectively.

The second chapter investigates the effects of Stalin’s mass deportations on distrust in central authority. Four deported ethnic groups were not rehabilitated after Stalin’s death; they remained in permanent exile until the disintegration of the Soviet Union. This allows one to distinguish between the effects of the groups that returned to their homelands and those of the groups that were not allowed to return. Using regional data from the 1991 referendum on the future of the Soviet Union, I find that deportations have a negative interim effect on trust in central authority in both the regions of destination and those of origin. The effect is stronger for ethnic groups that remained in permanent exile in the destination regions. Using data from the Life in Transition Survey, the chapter also documents a long-term effect of deportations in the destination regions.

The third chapter studies the short-term effect of Russian colonization of Central Asia on economic development. I use data on the regions of origin of Russian settlers and push factors to construct an instrument for Russian migration to Central Asia. This instrument allows me to interpret the outcomes causally. The main finding is that the massive influx of Russians into the region during the 1897-1926 period had a significant positive effect on indigenous literacy. The effect is stronger for men and in rural areas. Evidently, interactions between natives and Russians through the paid labor market was an important mechanism of human capital transmission in the context of colonization.

The findings of these chapters provide additional evidence that history and institutions do matter for economic development. Moreover, the dissertation also illuminates the relative persistence of institutions. In particular, political and social capital legacies of institutions might outlast economic legacies. I find that most economic differences between the former empires in Romania have disappeared. By the same token, there are significant discontinuities in political outcomes. People in former Habsburg Romania provide greater support for liberalization, privatization, and market economy, whereas voters in Ottoman Romania vote more for redistribution and government control over the economy.

In the former Soviet Union, Stalin’s deportations during World War II have a long-term negative effect on social capital. Today’s residents of the destination regions of deportations show significantly lower levels of trust in central authority. This is despite the fact that the Communist regime tried to eliminate any source of opposition and used propaganda to homogenize people’s political and social attitudes towards the authorities. In Central Asia, the influx of Russian settlers had a positive short-term effect on human capital of indigenous population by the 1920s, which also might have persisted over time.

From a development perspective, these findings stress the importance of institutions for future paths of development. Even if past institutional differences are not apparent for a certain period of time, as was the case with the former Communist countries, they can polarize society later on, hampering economic development in the long run. Different institutions in the past, which do not exist anymore, can thus contribute to current political instability and animosity.

The discovery of three lost ‘Salting’ carpets: science as a tool for revealing their history

Thesis presented at the Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, to obtain a Master degree in Conservation and Restoration,Specialization in Textiles

Spiritual Kinship, Political Mobilization and Social Cooperation: a Swiss Alpine valley in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

In this chapter I will present some observations and results about Ritual Kinship and political mobilization of popular groups in an Alpine valley: the Val de Bagnes, in the Swiss canton of Valais, - a mountain valley, well known today thanks to the tourist station of Verbier - where we can rely on excellent sources about local families. This region presents a particular political situation, because the 11 major villages of the valley form only one commune, which includes the whole valley.¦There are two major reasons to choose the Val de Bagnes for our inquiry on kinship and social networks in a rural society:¦A. The existence of sharp political and social conflicts during the 18th and the 19th centuries;¦B. The existence of almost systematic genealogical data between 1700 and 1900. (Casanova, Gard, Perrenoud 2005-08)¦The 18th century was characterized by the struggle of an important part of the community of Bagnes against the feudal lord, the abbot of St-Maurice. The culminating point was a local upheaval in 1745 in Le Châble, during which the abbot was forced to sign several documents in accordance with the wishes of the rebels (Guzzi-Heeb 2007). In the 19th century feudal lordship was abolished, but now the struggle confronted a liberal-radical faction and the conservative majority in the commune.¦The starting point of my presentation focuses on this question: which role did spiritual kinship play in the political mobilization of popular groups and in the organization of competing factions? This question allows us to shed light on some utilizations and meanings of spiritual kinship in the local society. Was spiritual kinship a significant instrument for economic cooperation? Or was it a channel for privileged social contacts and transactions?

Contribució a l'estudi de la Girona obrera (1841-1876)

Estudi sobre els inicis de la industrialització i el naixement de l'obrerisme a Girona

On the origins of electoral systems and political parties. The role of elections in multi-member districts

The old, understudied electoral system composed of multi-member districts, open ballot and plurality rule is presented as the most remote scene of the origin of both political parties and new electoral systems. A survey of the uses of this set of electoral rules in different parts of the world during remote and recent periods shows its wide spread. A model of voting by this electoral system demonstrates that, while it can produce varied and pluralistic representation, it also provides incentives to form factional or partisan candidacies. Famous negative reactions to the emergence of factions and political parties during the 18th and 19th centuries are reinterpreted in this context. Many electoral rules and procedures invented since the second half of the 19th century, including the Australian ballot, single-member districts, limited and cumulative ballots, and proportional representation rules, derived from the search to reduce the effects of the originating multi-member district system in favor of a single party sweep. The general relations between political parties and electoral systems are restated to account for the foundational stage here discussed.

Silk and ink. What were silk wallets, and what can they, together with Jacobina Charlotta Munterhjelm’s diary, tell us about the gentry women’s lives in the 18th and 19th century?

The subject of this thesis is the elaborate silk wallets and what can they tell about the gentry women’s lives in the 18th and 19th century Finland together Jacobina Charlotta Munsterhjelm’s diary. Silk wallets were made of silk and decorated by embroidering, they were used to preserve memorabilia and letters. Making these lavish items took time, skills and materials, and the decorations usually contained symbols and messages. As main source there are silk wallets from the collections of the National Museum of Finland and Satakunta Museum, as well as the diary of Jacobina Munsterhjelm from 1799 to 1801. By interpreting these items we can build a picture of gentry women’s lives. The culture of silk wallets is European, the silk wallet phenomenon studied is Swedish-Finnish, and the research is limited mainly in Finland by its sources. This research has been carried out by constructing a cultural context to the silk wallets with the help of Ginzburg’s methods from his work Juusto ja madot - 1500-luvun myllärin maailmankuva. Silk wallets represent the gentry as well as the communication culture in the 18th and 19th centuries, but have remained unstudied. The thesis consists of two parts, the first focuses on the silk wallets, from where were they developed, how they were made, and to their decorations. The silk wallet culture developed among the gentry handicrafts during the 18th century and faded during the early 20th century. The making of the silk wallets demanded time, skills and materials. The decorations contain messages and symbols – they contain the possible affections the makers might have toward the receiver, and reflect the status and qualities of the receiver. The second part examines the makers, the gentry women, and the handicraft culture which played a big role in their lives, through silk wallets and the diary of Jacobina Munstehjelm. From there it continues to the affections and meanings which can be found from the silk wallets.

Pesca i associacionisme al litoral de Girona : la confraria de Sant Pere de Palamós (segles XVII-XVIII)

L’objectiu ha estat utilitzar el cas concret del Palamós modern per introduir-nos en l’estudi de l’associacionisme marítimo-pesquer anterior a les convulsions polítiques i administratives provocades per les reformes introduïdes per la monarquia il·lustrada a partir de la segona meitat del segle XVIII. La Matrícula de Mar – nom amb que es coneix el sistema de lleves ideat per la Monarquia a partir de 1751 per dotar d’efectius humans els vaixells de l’Armada – va capgirar radicalment la situació del sector pesquer, a banda d’importat i instaurar, pels que l’han estudiat, un model associatiu extern al model confraternal devocional català que aquí presentem. La intenció és veure quina era la situació precedent, en què es caracteritzava i com encaixava l’associacionisme pesquer català en el panorama confraternal medieval i modern: solucionar, en resum, aquest decalatge primigeni. Abans, però, caldria parlar breument de les bases materials, socials i culturals del sector, i molt en concret del paper, rellevant al nostre entendre, de la religió i de les institucions eclesiàstiques en tot aquest procés

Una Girona poc il·luminada [Ressenya del llibre Girona a l'època de la Il·lustració, de Ramon Alberch, Javier Antón, Montserrat Jiménez i Josep Quer]

Ressenya d'aquesta obra historiogràfica sobre la Girona del segle XVIII. Es presenten tres treballs, dos d'ells entorn l’àmbit clerical i el tercer entorn la poca evolució de l’estructura econòmica i social de la Girona d’aquell temps

Contribució a l'estudi de la Girona obrera (1841-1876)

Estudi sobre els inicis de la industrialització i el naixement de l'obrerisme a Girona

Problem of Tragedy and Tragic Consciousness in Russia at the turn of the 19th Century

This project intertwines philosophical and historico-literary themes, taking as its starting point the concept of tragic consciousness inherent in the epoch of classicism. The research work makes use of ontological categories in order to describe the underlying principles of the image of the world which was created in philosophical and scientific theories of the 17th century as well as in contemporary drama. Using these categories brought Mr. Vilk to the conclusion that the classical picture of the world implied a certain dualism; not the Manichaean division between light and darkness but the discrimination between nature and absolute being, i.e. God. Mr. Vilk begins with an examination of the philosophical essence of French classical theatre of the XVII and XVIII centuries. The history of French classical tragedy can be divided into three periods: from the mid 17th to early 19th centuries when it triumphed all over France and exerted a powerful influence over almost all European countries; followed by the period of its rejection by the Romantics, who declared classicism to be "artificial and rational"; and finally our own century which has taken a more moderate line. Nevertheless, French classical tragedy has never fully recovered its status. Instead, it is ancient tragedy and the works of Shakespeare that are regarded to be the most adequate embodiment of the tragic. Consequently they still provoke a great number of new interpretations ranging from specialised literary criticism to more philosophical rumination. An important feature of classical tragedy is a system of rules and unities which reveals a hidden ontological structure of the world. The ontological picture of the dramatic world can be described in categories worked out by medieval philosophy - being, essence and existence. The first category is to be understood as a tendency toward permanency and stability (within eternity) connected with this or that fragment of dramatic reality. The second implies a certain set of permanent elements that make up the reality. And the third - existence - should be understood as "an act of being", as a realisation of permanently renewed processes of life. All of these categories can be found in every artistic reality but the accents put on one or another and their interrelations create different ontological perspectives. Mr. Vilk plots the movement of thought, expressed in both philosophical and scientific discourses, away from Aristotle's essential forms, and towards a prioritising of existence, and shows how new forms of literature and drama structured the world according to these evolving requirements. At the same time the world created in classical tragedy fully preserves another ontological paradigm - being - as a fundamental permanence. As far as the tragic hero's motivations are concerned this paradigm is revealed in the dedication of his whole self to some cause, and his oath of fidelity, attitudes which shape his behaviour. It may be the idea of the State, or personal honour, or something borrowed from the emotional sphere, passionate love. Mr. Vilk views the conflicting ambivalence of existence and being, duty as responsibility and duty as fidelity, as underlying the main conflict of classical tragedy of the 17th century. Having plotted the movement of the being/existence duality through its manifestations in 17th century tragedy, Mr. Vilk moves to the 18th century, when tragedy took a philosophical turn. A dualistic view of the world became supplanted by the Enlightenment idea of a natural law, rooted in nature. The main point of tragedy now was to reveal that such conflicts as might take place had an anti-rational nature, that they arose as the result of a kind of superstition caused by social reasons. These themes Mr. Vilk now pursues through Russian dramatists of the 18th and early 19th centuries. He begins with Sumarakov, whose philosophical thought has a religious bias. According to Sumarakov, the dualism of the divineness and naturalness of man is on the one hand an eternal paradox, and on the other, a moral challenge for humans to try to unite the two opposites. His early tragedies are not concerned with social evils or the triumph of natural feelings and human reason, but rather the tragic disharmony in the nature of man and the world. Mr Vilk turns next to the work of Kniazhnin. He is particularly keen to rescue his reputation from the judgements of critics who accuse him of being imitative, and in order to do so, analyses in detail the tragedy "Dido", in which Kniazhnin makes an attempt to revive the image of great heroes and city-founders. Aeneas represents the idea of the "being" of Troy, his destiny is the re-establishment of the city (the future Rome). The moral aspect behind this idea is faithfulness, he devotes himself to Gods. Dido is also the creator of a city, endowed with "natural powers" and abilities, but her creation is lacking internal stability grounded in "being". The unity of the two motives is only achieved through Dido's sacrifice of herself and her city to Aeneus. Mr Vilk's next subject is Kheraskov, whose peculiarity lies in the influence of free-mason mysticism on his work. This section deals with one of the most important philosophical assumptions contained in contemporary free-mason literature of the time - the idea of the trinitarian hierarchy inherent in man and the world: body - soul - spirit, and nature - law - grace. Finally, Mr. Vilk assess the work of Ozerov, the last major Russian tragedian. The tragedies which earned him fame, "Oedipus in Athens", "Fingal" and "Dmitri Donskoi", present a compromise between the Enlightenment's emphasis on harmony and ontological tragic conflict. But it is in "Polixene" that a real meeting of the Russian tradition with the age-old history of the genre takes place. The male and female characters of "Polixene" distinctly express the elements of "being" and "existence". Each of the participants of the conflict possesses some dominant characteristic personifying a certain indispensable part of the moral world, a certain "virtue". But their independent efforts are unable to overcome the ontological gap separating them. The end of the tragedy - Polixene's sacrificial self-immolation - paradoxically combines the glorification of each party involved in the conflict, and their condemnation. The final part of Mr. Vilk's research deals with the influence of "Polixene" upon subsequent dramatic art. In this respect Katenin's "Andromacha", inspired by "Polixene", is important to mention. In "Andromacha" a decisive divergence from the principles of the philosophical tragedy of Russian classicism and the ontology of classicism occurs: a new character appears as an independent personality, directed by his private interest. It was Katenin who was to become the intermediary between Pushkin and classical tragedy.

La història del turisme a la ciutat de Girona

Breu itinerari per la història del turisme de la ciutat de Girona, estructurada en quatre períodes. En la primera etapa, s'assenten les bases de la imatge turística de la ciutat (1850 1900); el període artesanal (1900-1950) coincideix amb els primers passos de la indústria turística i la consolidació de l'ideal romàntic; seguidament, el període fordista (1950- 1980) és la fase de transformació radical del turisme i implica una concentració de la demanda en el litoral; i, finalment, el període postfordista (1980-2006), caracteritzat per la instauració de la democràcia, l'inici de l'esgotament del model tradicional i la densitat creixent de fluxos turístics al Barri Vell

Hisendats, de classe dominant classe dirigent

Estudi dels hisendats a les comarques gironins durant el s. XIX. Es tractava de famílies que durant centúries havien anat acumulant propietats agrícoles, i així es van consolidar com una minoria de grans propietaris rurals que podien viure de les seves rendes

Política turística de Girona: 1976-2007

Es pretén fer una descripció de la política turística de la ciutat de Girona en el període 1976-2007. Es defineixen 6 objectius: estudiar el concepte de política turística, estudiar l’evolució del boom turístic dels 60 fins al turisme de qualitat dels 90, observar el repartiment de competències entre les diferents administracions, observar l’actual política turística de l’Ajuntament de Girona, descriure els fets que han influït en la política turística de la ciutat de Girona, i comparar la política turística estatal i la de Girona en aquest període

Història urbana de Girona: el monar reial del Mercadal a Girona

De l'any 1015 consta l'existència del rec comtal, segons escriptura atorgada pel comte Ramon Borrell i per llur esposa, Ermessenda, que varen fer donació a la Seu de Santa Maria, el dia 19 de juny, de quatre mujades de terra situades prop del Mercadal iuxta urbem Gerundensis in ipso plano super ipsum Mercadalem. Les dites terres afrontaven de occiduo in ipso rege comitale i a migdia amb el riu Güell. Aquest fet permet considerar que el rec comtal feia possible, ja al segle XI, la instal·lació del Monar comtal amb llurs molins

Wages and prices in early Catalan industrialisation

[eng] Catalonia was the only Mediterranean region among the early followers of the British Industrial Revolution in the second third of the nineteenth century. The roots of this industrialisation process can be traced back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when the Catalan economy became successfully integrated in international trade and the region enjoyed an intensification of its agrarian and proto-industrial activities. These capitalist developments were subsequently reinforced by a successful printed calico manufacturing business concentrated in the city of Barcelona. Although the factory system was largely adopted by the cotton industry in the 1840s, the diffusion of the spinning jenny had occurred earlier in the 1790s. In this paper, in line with Allen (2009a, 2009b), we explore whether relative factor prices played a role in the widespread adoption of the spinning jenny in Catalonia.