Josef C Brada

• BS ChE & MA Tufts Univ, PhD U of Minnesota
• Professor Emeritus at Arizona State University

Based on a survey of 54 published articles, we undertake a meta-analysis of 906 estimates of the effects of financial liberalization on economic growth. We conclude that the literature contains statistically significant evidence of a positive effect of financial liberalization on economic growth, and, in some cases, these effects can be considered...

This paper examines the possibilities for, and obstacles to, the reunification of North and South Korea based on the experiences of the reunifications of Italy, the United States and Germany in the 19th and 20th centuries. Common elements of these reunifications include a slow convergence of incomes and productivity of regions, important political...

We undertake a meta-analysis of 1296 estimates of the effect of target-country legal environments on cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBMAs) compiled from 60 published studies. Although these studies provide effect estimates that are statistically significant, none of the legal variables considered, save civil law, has an effect on either CBM...

We undertake a meta-analysis of 1296 estimates of the effect of target country legal environments on cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBMAs) compiled from 60 published studies. Although these studies provide effect estimates that are statistically significant, none of the legal variables considered, save civil law, has an effect on either CBM...

In this paper, we synthesize and compare 2,961 estimates extracted from 90 papers on the effect of target-country institutions on cross-border merger and acquisition (CBMA) intensity and premia. The synthesis results show statistically significant effects of institutional quality, cultural similarity , corruption control, and political stability an...

In this paper, we synthesize and compare 2,961 estimates extracted from 90 papers of the effect of target-country institutions on cross-border merger and acquisition (CBMA) intensity and premia. The synthesis results show statistically significant effects of institutional quality, cultural similarity, corruption control and political stability and...

We investigate whether investor-state arbitration under investment protection treaties is valuable to foreign investors and whether international arbitration has effects on firm value that are like those seen in domestic litigation. An event study of abnormal returns when claims for arbitration are filed and adjudicated show that firms gain in mark...

In this paper we examine resiliency, the ability to absorb and recover from economic shocks, in 199 Nuts-3 regions in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) following the 2008 global financial crisis. We find evidence of strong positive regional spillovers, meaning that regions tend to form clusters of high-performing and low-performing areas, a process...

We undertake a meta-analysis of the effects of international investment agreements for the protection of foreign investors on foreign direct investment using 2107 estimates drawn from 74 studies. Our meta-analysis finds robust evidence that effect of international investment agreements is so small as to be considered zero. However, our results do n...

We undertake a meta‐analysis of the effects of international investment agreements for the protection of foreign investors on foreign direct investment using 2107 estimates drawn from 74 studies. Our meta‐analysis finds robust evidence that effect of international investment agreements is so small as to be considered zero. However, our results do n...

I examine the growth experience of the current BRICS countries in the light of the experience of earlier BRICS-like countries (France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan) as well as of the settler economies (Argentina, Australia, Canada, the US and South Africa) using the developmental framework of Alexander Gerschenkron. I also examine the political...

I examine the growth experience of the current BRICS countries in the light of the experience of earlier BRICS-like countries (France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan) as well as of the settler economies (Argentina, Australia, Canada, the US and South Africa) using the developmental framework of Alexander Gerschenkron. I also examine the political...

This article studies the impact of structural changes in China’s banking sector on the financial constraints on Chinese listed companies’ ability to finance their investments. Using information on the location of bank branches of all Chinese banks, we find that growing competition among banks reduces financing constraints on listed firms. We also s...

We model the relationship between bilateral foreign direct investment (FDI) and the level of corruption in multinational firms’ (MCNs’) home and host countries. We construct and test a model of bilateral FDI between countries that differ in their levels of corruption. FDI is affected negatively both by the level of corruption in the host country an...

This paper reviews the history of Comparative Economic Studies and the role that it has played in the development of the field of comparative economics. While we emphasize developments in the past 10 years when we served as co-editors, the development of the journal and of the field of comparative economics is placed in the context of the entire 60...

The strategies of commercial banks are identified in response to higher capital requirements imposed by the Basel III reform. The focus will be on a sample of nine EU emerging market countries where the behavior of the five largest banks in each country will be examined. It was found that all banking sectors raised capital adequacy ratios by about...

Using vouchers to privatize state-owned firms was an innovative but controversial aspect of transition. In the Czech Republic, voucher privatization created a large group of minority shareholders who coexisted with large shareholder-managers who controlled firms. Critics allege that the structure of shareholdings and regulatory failures allowed per...

In many emerging and transition economies, inflation targeting (IT) has been a successful framework for monetary policy in the areas of improved central bank transparency, higher real GDP growth, and better collection of tax revenues, but has been controversial in other respects. This article reviews the performance of IT in transition economies by...

This timely reader of seminal papers published by Palgrave on behalf of Comparative Economic Studies, examines how and why foreign banks enter emerging markets and the positive benefits they bring to the host countries.

In this introduction to the symposium, we review the key determinants of youth unemployment in order to better understand the theoretical and empirical framework of the four papers in the symposium. In addition, we briefly discuss some recent evidence on the youth unemployment rate and NEET indicator (percent of young people who are neither employe...

This paper reviews labor market developments in the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union since the beginning of transition. The paper examines the relationship between aggregate employment and macroeconomic developments in these countries, emphasizing the changing interaction between aggregate output and employment, the role of w...

Using survey data on Bulgarian and Macedonian firms that participated in USAID programs providing technical and financial assistance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and on firms that did not, we estimate the effectiveness of such assistance in increasing the growth of employment in the assisted firms. We control for firm characteristi...

We examine the extent to which workers in transition and developed market economies are able to obtain wages that fully reflect their skills and labor force characteristics. We find that workers in two transition economies, the Czech Republic and Poland, are able to better attain the maximum wage available than are workers in a sample of developed...

We estimate capital flight from 10 Central and Eastern European countries for the period 1996–2009. Capital flight from the transition economies is mainly an economic phenomenon, driven by differences in interest rates and investors’ perceptions of economic conditions in their countries as well as by the ease with which they are able to obtain fund...

I review the literature on labor's share of national income in developed and developing countries. These shares have varied systematically over the post-World War II period, rising until the late 1970s and then falling until now. Explanations for the decline in labor's share include technical progress, globalization and a decline in labor's bargain...

An American economist, editor of the Journal of Comparative Economics, questions the desirability of Soviet membership in the GATT. Viewed from the framework of the theory of clubs, the Soviet Union is not a desirable member. This is partly because it does not seek the same level of liberalization of world trade as do other members and partly becau...

A prominent American specialist on Soviet and East European economies argues that there are important gains to be obtained from rapid market liberalization and privatization in the transition from communism to capitalism. These gains depend on the responsiveness of firms to market signals. A review of the available evidence suggests that rapid priv...

In sum, Yel'tsin was a brilliant revolutionary leader in 1987-1991. Thereafter, he was successful in some policy areas, unsuccessful in others. He squandered his accumulated authority, but proved to be intuitively exceptional in keeping would-be opponents off-balance and maintaining his grip on power. If things improve in Russia, he may yet be cred...

Income inequality has increased in both developed and developing countries, and this growing inequality is in large part due to a shift in factor shares in favor of capital and to the detriment of labor. Factor shares have varied systematically over the post-World War II period, rising until the late 1970s and then falling until now. Explanations...

The effect of corruption on FDI is analysed. Using FDI outflows from a sample of East European transition economies that had virtually no outward FDI before 1995, FDI flows are observed based mainly on current investment decisions and less on the inertia of past investments. The model separates the effects of corruption on FDI location decisions an...

Although there is a large body of literature examining the negative effects of the global financial crisis on transition economies, the global financial bubble that preceded the crisis had a large positive impact on the productive capacity of these countries, both by increasing the pace of capital formation and by accelerating the growth of product...

The inefficiency of cooperative agriculture relative to private farms is often attributed to difficulties in monitoring or poor incentives. We develop a model to show that, in technologies with numerous sequential steps, even small shortfalls in worker effort can result in large output declines. Using data on cooperative and private farms in El Sal...

Comparative evidence based on key labor market performance indicators is discussed for the US, Japan and Europe in a long-run perspective and, especially, showing the impact of the financial crisis and Great Recession. As for Europe, the huge national and regional level differences are highlighted. In addition, some key findings on labor market per...

The global pre-eminence of US higher education is evident not only in the high places that US universities achieve in various global rankings. US higher education’s share of GDP, about 3.5 per cent, is higher than in other countries; it produces a large number of graduates and this lead is particularly pronounced in doctoral and other advanced degr...

It is generally agreed that privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) improves economic efficiency, but it is also widely feared that it exacerbates unemployment especially in transition and development economies. This paper proposes a theoretical model of the macroeconomic relationships between privatization, efficiency, output, and employme...

We estimate capital flight from seven countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States for the period 1995–2005. In some countries capital flight is large and growing, but other countries, despite similar macroeconomic and political circumstances, have little capital flight. We develop a model of capital flight that incorporates costs of moving...

Using survey data on Macedonian firms that participated in USAID programs providing technical and financial assistance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and on firms that did not, we estimate the effectiveness of such assistance in increasing the growth of employment in the assisted firms. We control for selection bias in program partic...

We examine the role of FDI in facilitating money laundering and illegal capital flight, focusing on transition economies’ FDI outflows because they largely reflect current investment decisions rather than the inertia of past decisions. We estimate a model of FDI outflows in which illicit money flows influence the volume of FDI directed toward count...

We examine the extent to which workers in transition and developed market economies are able to obtain wages that fully reflect their skills and labor force characteristics. We find that workers in two transition economies, the Czech Republic and Poland, are able to better attain the maximum wage available than are workers in a sample of developed...

We estimate total factor productivity (TFP) growth in agriculture, industry and services in new European Union member countries and show how structural change contributes to growth. Because of the difficulties in measuring the capital stock of transition economies, we develop a model that estimates sectoral TFPs from data on sectoral employment and...

Josef Brada, Belton Fleisher, Scott Rozelle and Jo Swinnen introduce the symposium on the economic and social implications of urbanization in China, published in Comparative Economic Studies. The Chinese government for many years followed a relatively restrictive policy towards urbanization, in part by means of policies that sought to limit rural-u...

The seeming demise of the field of comparative economics as it evolved in the 20th century is often seen as the result of the collapse of the communist economy, which left us with only one economic system, capitalism. Moreover, the old comparative economics has been replaced by the new comparative economics, which focuses on varieties of capitalism...

The imputation of reinvested earnings from foreign direct investment (FDI) as a debit in the balance of payments exaggerates the current account deficit. This phenomenon is of major importance for transition economies because they received massive inflows of FDI in the late 1990s. We model the FDI financial life cycle to describe the evolution of p...

The paper analyses the intertemporal approach to the balance of payments which is based on the intertemporal approach to the relation between domestic saving and investment. A key element of the presented analysis is whether world capital mobility is high enough to hold a condition that the relation between the domestic saving and investment in a c...

The paper analyses the intertemporal approach to the balance of payments which is based on the intertemporal approach to the relation between domestic saving and investment. A key element of the presented analysis is whether world capital mobility is high enough to hold a condition that the relation between the domestic saving and investment in a c...

Privatization has been studied primarily from the standpoint of the post-privatization performance of state-owned firms (SOEs) or of various ways of valuing and privatizing them, but little attention has been paid to the timing of privatization. In this paper we use real options analysis to consider a situation where the government has the option t...

Fifteen years after independence, Macedonia has completed a tough first round of reforms to stabilize the economy, but the Government needs to push ahead with deeper measures to boost growth and prepare the country for entry into the European Union.

This paper examines the effects of transition and of political instability on foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to the transition economies of Central Europe, the Baltics and the Balkans. We find that FDI flows to transition economies unaffected by conflict and political instability exceed those that would be expected for comparable West Europe...

It is commonly believed that China began the socialist era as a very under-urbanized country relative to its level of development and that it has been eliminating this urbanization gap during the post-1978 period as a result of its economic reforms. Our reexamination of the relationship between per capita income and urbanization that underpins the...

We use rolling cointegration to measure the convergence of base money, M2, the CPI and industrial output between Germany and France and recent EU members and some transition countries that are now joining the EU. Countries that joined the EU previously exhibit time-varying cointegration with the core countries over the 1980–2000 sample period. Coin...

The article discusses different causes of financial crises and shows that the imputation of reinvested profits of the subsidiaries of foreign firms as a debit item on a host country's balance of payments account tends to overstate the current account deficit and to make the host country seem more vulnerable to financial crisis. It also shows that,...

During the nineties, Europe became a major recipient of FDIs but Italian regions have been largely excluded from this process. Was it due to their characteristics, or were Italian regions “doomed” by a negative country effect? In this paper we address this issue by estimating the determinants of multinational firms’ location choices in 52 EU region...

In this and several preceding issues of Post-Soviet Geography and Economics, we have published analyses of fiscal policy in Hungary (Kiss and Szapary, 2000), the Czech Republic (Drabek and Schneider, 2000), and Poland (Kemme and Rapacki, 2000). These analyses are based on papers presented at the Annual Meetings of the Association for Comparative Ec...

We show that the imputation of reinvested profits of the subsidiaries of foreign firms as a debit item on a host country's balance of payments account tends to overstate the current account deficit. We also show that, because of the workings of the FDI financial life cycle, this phenomenon is most evident for countries that have recently received l...

This chapter uses published case studies of firms in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland to investigate how firms reacted to the pressures of transition. Most firms made short-term adjustments to outputs and inputs, but fewer made strategic adjustments. Nevertheless these short-term responses influenced their ability to implement long-term strat...

We show that the imputation of reinvested profits of the subsidiaries of foreign firms as a debit item on a host country's balance of payments account tends to overstate the current account deficit and to make the host country seem more vulnerable to financial crisis. We also show that, because of the workings of the FDI financial life cycle, this...

In this paper we estimate the effects of transition and political instability in the Eastern European and Balkan transition countries on their FDI inflows. For transition countries unaffected by political instability, FDI inflows in the 1990s were around 20 to 30% of those achieved by European market economies with similar economic characteristics....

We compare the convergence with German monetary policy of the Balkan and Mediterranean country candidates for European Union (EU) membership with that of countries that have recently joined the EU. Significant linkages exist between German base money stock and that of recent members of the EU; the same holds true for some of the Mediterranean regio...

We compare the convergence with German monetary policy of the Balkan and Mediterranean country candidates for European Union (EU) membership with that of countries that have recently joined the EU. Significant linkages exist between German base money stock and that of recent members of the EU; the same holds true for some of the Mediterranean regio...

We use rolling cointegration to measure the convergence of base money, M2, the consumer price index and industrial output between two reference countries, Germany and France, and recent EU members and some transition economy candidates. Counties that recently joined the EU exhibit time-varying cointegration with the reference countries over much of...

This paper examines the moderation of inflation in three transition economies, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland at the end of the 1990s. We argue that the institutions for the conduct of monetary policy in these countries were relatively weak and that monetary policy was unsupported by fiscal policy and hampered by multiple objectives. Using...

We compare the convergence with German monetary policy of the Balkan and Mediterranean country candidates for european Union (EU) membership with that of countries that have recently joined the EU. Significant linkages exist between German base money stock and that of recent members of the EU; the same holds true for some of the Mediterranean regio...

We compare the convergence with German monetary policy of the transition-economy candidates for EU membership, of non-transition candidates, and of countries that have recently joined the EU. Significant linkages exist between German base money stock and that of recent members of the EU; the same holds true for non-transition-economy candidates. Am...

We compare the convergence with German monetary policy of the monetary policy of transitioneconomy candidates for EU membership, of non-transition candidates and of countries that have recently joined the EU. We find significant long- and short-run linkages between German base money stock and that of the most recent members of the EU; the same hold...

Kemme and Teng study the exchange rate of the Polish zloty over the decade of the 1990s. They examine both deviations from purchasing power parity (PPP) and from an equilibrium exchange rate estimated by econometric means. This comment on their paper makes two points. The first is that, as Kemme and Teng agree, the PPP concept is unlikely to be a g...

In this paper we comment on Filer and Hanousek's methodology and conclusions about potential mismeasurement of inflation in the Czech Republic. Specifically, we believe that their procedure assumes away most of the efforts by the Czech Statistical Office to take these sources of bias into account. We also question the way in which they seek to exte...

Research on transition economics increasingly focuses on problems that characterize non-transition economies and uses methodology and models generally applied to the latter countries. This is particularly the case in macroeconomics. The implication of this is that economists are acting as if, at least in some transition economies, the transition is...