| Abstract: |
This thesis focuses on one of the most serious institutional weaknesses of the transition process – corruption. Our aim is to find out, if the main causes of widespread corruption lie in the basic principles of transition programs, privatisation and liberalisation, or if there are other factors, which contribute more to this unpleasant situation. We start our analysis by investigating patterns of corruption in the centrally planned economy. Then we pay attention to privatisation and liberalisation. As the key features we emphasise the quality of property rights after privatisation and consistent progress in all areas of liberalisation. Finally, we analyze social and political causes of corruption, which are closely connected with transition, and other cultural factors. In the last chapter we deal with two simple models in order to demonstrate the influence of corruption throughout the reform progress and in the case of poorly defined property rights. Our conclusion is that the main processes of economic transition do not foster corruption, but the weak institutional framework, which they take place in, is the core problem. |
