The economic model of Belarus under A. Lukashenka’s regime: emergence, functioning, social and political consequences

general courses

The purpose of a given lecture is to explain the origins and principles

functioning and political effects of a specific

economic system that was created in Belarus during the

Alyaksandr Lukashenko's government and helped him for several decades to

maintain authoritarian power. In the last 15 years

the economy of Belarus has experienced several waves of deregulation, which

changed the quasi-Soviet command-and-control system into

more flexible. Nevertheless, the state-based sector

on large companies still plays a key role, competition

and is limited. In addition, the Belarusian authorities

developed a broad set of informal rules that

allow them to extract resources from small and medium

private enterprises and limit the development of the private sector. Classes can also help participants to

understand how small and medium enterprises operate in other economies of the area

post-Soviet and what obstacles they encounter in their own

development.

1. The emergence of the “Belarusian economic model: from rise to the crisis (1991–2006)

2. Limited attempts of market reforms (2007–2015) and stabilization based on market mechanisms (2015–2020)

3. Tightening the grip again (Since Autumn 2020)

4. The state as a main actor in the Belarusian economy: ownership function of the state, state planning system, discrimination of private business

5. State-organized informal practices

6. How entrepreneurs adapt to state-imposed informal rules

ESSENTIAL READINGS

1. Kozarzewski, P., Papko, A. (2023). The Belarusian Development Path: From Command Economy to State Capitalism? [in:] Ricz, J., Gerőcs, T. (eds) The Political Economy of Emerging Markets and Alternative Development Paths, pp 143–170.

International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved

from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vaQBAJfR1tlRlpW47OCetdJsSnn91AI-/view?usp=sharing

2. Papko, A., Kozarzewski, P. (2020) The evolution of Belarusian public sector: From command economy to state capitalism? CASE Working Papers, No. 12(136)/2020. Retrieved from: https://www.case-research.eu/files/?id_plik=6381

3. Papko, A. (2017). It is better to Remain Small and Invisible. Informal Barriers to the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises in Belarus. Part II, Warsaw Forum of Economic Sociology, Vol 8 16. Retrieved from: https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/943638

ADDITIONAL READINGS

Belarusian economic model:

1. Zlotnikov, L. (2009). The Belarusian ‘economic miracle’ – illusions and reality [in]: Balmaceda, M. (ed.) Back from the Cold? The EU and Belarus in 2009, Chaillot Paper No. 119, EU Institute for Security Studies, Paris. Retrieved from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/resrep06960.7.pdf

2. Bonatti, L., and Haiduk, K. (2010). Dualism and growth in transition economies: a two-sector model with efficient and subsidized enterprises. The University of Trento. Retrieved from: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/6349643.pdf

3. Dobrinsky, R. (ed.) (2016). The Belarus Economy: The Challenges of Stalled Reforms, Executive Summary, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies. Retrieved from: https://wiiw.ac.at/the-belarus-economy-the-challenges-of-stalled-reforms-p-4032.html

4. Papko, A. (2021). Belarusian Economy: Growing Financial Problems and Threat of Economic Sanctions [in]: Nowakowski, J., Olędzka, J., Rust M. (eds) Economy overshadowed by politics. Economic situation in Belarus, Analytical Group "BELARUS-UKRAINE-REGION", Report III, pp. 19-35, Centre for East European Studies at the University of Warsaw. Retrieved from: https://studium.uw.edu.pl/wp content/uploads/2022/01/Raport_Bialorus_2021_3EN.pdf

5. Papko, A. (2022). Cios w główne branże eksportowe: wpływ antywojennych sankcji na gospodarkę Białorusi [w]: Olędzka, J., Rust M. (red.) Białoruś i jej wybory: polityka, gospodarka i społeczeństwo w cieniu wojny, Grupa Analityczna „BIAŁORUŚ-UKRAINA-REGION”, Raport VI, str. 81-93. Pobrane z: https://studium.uw.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Raport_Bialorus_6PL.pdf

6. Alachnovič, A. (2023). The Rise and Fall of the IT Industry in Belarus. The German Economic Team. Retrieved from: https://www.german-economic-team.com/en/newsletter/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-it-industry-in-belarus/

7. Kłysiński, K. (2023) A crisis rather than a disaster. The Belarusian economy a year into Russia’s war against Ukraine, OSW Commentary, The Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW). Retrieved from: https://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/osw-commentary/2023-03-22/a-crisis-rather-a-disaster-belarusian-economy-a-year-russias

8. Lvovskiy, L. (2023). Has Belarus’s Support for Russia’s War Gone Unrewarded? Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved from:

https://carnegieendowment.org/politika/89276

9. Lvovskiy, L. (2023). The Belarusian Economy Under Sanctions Since the Start of Russia’s War in Ukraine. SCEEUS Guest Platform for Eastern Europe Policy No. 33, The Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies. Retrieved from: https://sceeus.se/en/publications/the-belarusian economy-under-sanctions-since-the-start-of-russias-war-in-ukraine/

Institutional theory. Formal and informal institutions

1. North, D. (1991). Institutions, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 5, No.1, pp. 97-112. Retrieved from:http://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.5.1.97

2. North, D. (1997a). The Contribution of the New Institutional Economics to an Understanding of the Transition Problem, United Nations University, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU WIDER). Retrieved from:

https://www.wider.unu.edu/publication/contribution-new-institutional-economics-understanding-transition-problem-0

3. North, D. (1997b). The Process of Economic Change, United Nations University, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU WIDER). Retrieved from: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/WP128.pdf

4. Helmke, G. and Levitsky, S. (2003). Informal Institutions and Comparative Politics: A Research Agenda, Kellog Institute. Retrieved from:

https://www3.nd.edu/~kellogg/publications/workingpapers/WPS/307.pdf.

5. Wiggins, S. and Davis, J. (2006). Economic Institutions, Improving Institutions Pro-Poor Growth (IPPG), Briefing Paper No. 3. Retrieved from:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/57a08c27ed915d622c001177/IPPGBP3.pdf

6. Darden, K. (2002). Graft and Governance: Corruption as an Informal Mechanism of State Control, Yale University. Retrieved from:

http://leitner.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/resources/docs/2002-02.pdf.

7. Acemoğlu, D. and Robison, J. (2012). Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty, New York: Crown Publishers. Retrieved from: https://ia800606.us.archive.org/15/items/WhyNationsFailTheOriginsODaronAcemoglu/Why-Nations-Fail_-The-Origins-o-Daron-Acemoglu.pdf

8.

Informal institutions in the economy and politics of the post-Soviet states

1. Barsukova, S. and Radaev, V. (2013). Informal Economy in Russia: A Brief Overview, Economic Sociology: the European Electronic Newsletter. Retrieved from: https://publications.hse.ru/pubs/share/folder/1i2wqajqn0/70677537.pdf

2. Gans-Morse, J. (2012). Threats to Property Rights in Russia: From Private Coercion to State Aggression, Post-Soviet Affairs, Vol. 28, No. 3. https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.northwestern.edu/dist/6/5447/files/2021/03/Gans-

Morse_ThreatstoPropertyRights_PSA.pdf

3. Kordonsky, S. (2007). Resursnoe gosudarstvo: sbornik statey. [Resource state. Collection of articles], Moscow: REGNUM. Retrieved from:

https://www.academia.edu/39656741

4. Kordonsky, S. (2016). Socio-Economic Foundations of the Russian Post-Soviet Regime. The Resource-Based Economy and Estate-Based Social Structure of Contemporary Russia, Stuttgart: ibidem-Verlag.

5. Kordonsky, S. (2018a). Estate-based Social Structure in Post-Soviet Russia, :Boon | Expanding Horizons. Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TycGbicShA

6. Kordonsky, S. (2018b). The Social Structure of Russia, Retrieved from: https://www.academia.edu/71297684/The_Social_Structure_of_Russia

7. Kordonsky, Simon. (2008). Soslovnaya struktura postsovetskoy Rossii. [Estate structure of the post-Soviet Russia], Moscow: «Obshchestvennoe mnenie»

Foundation. Retrieved from: https://www.hse.ru/data/601/786/1238/%D0%A1%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F%20%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80%D1%83%D0%BA%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B0%20....pdf

8. Ledeneva, A. (2009). From Russia with Blat: Can Informal Networks Help Modernize Russia? Social research Vol 76, No 1. Retrieved from:

https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/64915/1/Ledeneva_From%20Russia%20with%20Blat%20on%20the%20computer.pdf

9. Ledeneva, A. (2013). Russia’s Practical Norms and Informal Governance: The Origins of Endemic Corruption, Vol. 80, No. 4, Corruption, Accountability, and Transparency, pp. 1135-1162, The Johns Hopkins University Press. Retrieved from:

https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1421771/3/Ledeneva_Russia's%20Practical%20Norms%20and%20Informal%20Governance%20The%20Origins%20of%20Endemic%20Corruption%20from%20computer.pdf

10. Ledeneva, Alena. (2011). ‘Open secrets and knowing smiles’, East European Politics and Society Vol. 25 (4) pp. 720–36. Retrieved from:

https://www.academia.edu/11745378/Open_Secrets_and_Knowing_Smiles_by_Alena_Ledeneva

11. Polese, A. (2016). Limits of a Post-Soviet State: How Informality Replaces, Renegotiates, and Reshapes Governance in Contemporary Ukraine. Stuttgart: ibidem-Verlag. 2016. Retrieved from: https://www.academia.edu/41995319/Limits_of_a_Post_Soviet_State_How_Informality_Replaces_Renegotiates_and_Reshapes_Governance_in_Contemporary_Ukraine

After completing the series of lectures, the student is expected to be able to:

-indicate the basic features of the economic model created during the authoritarian rule of Aliaksandr Lukashenko;

-describe the main stages of its development;

-describe the impact of the economic system on the structure of Belarusian society;

-define the basic concepts of the neo-institutional theory: institution, formal versus informal institution, extractive versus inclusive institution, reasons for the emergence of informal institutions;

-list the informal institutions created by the Belarusian authorities to extract resources from the private sector.

Student activity during classes, oral exam grade