ECONOMIC GROWTH AND TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES BETWEEN TWO GLOBAL CRISES AND BEYOND

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##

Published: Nov 30, 2022

  Yuriy Bilenko

Abstract

The aim of the article is to assess the factors of economic growth of the CEE countries over the 30-year history, the productivity of capital and human resources, the resilience of these countries to the negative impact of the global financial crisis. Methodology. The Solow growth model was used to estimate the growth rates of capital, labor and total factor productivity (TFP). The impact of macroeconomic indicators on GDP and TFP growth is assessed. The group of Central and Eastern European countries that joined the European Union was chosen for the analysis: Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, as well as post-Soviet European countries: Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Moldova and Albania in the period from 1991 to 2019. Results. TFP makes a significant contribution to the economic growth of CEE countries. During the period of market reforms, TFP significantly decreased, and during the boom of 2000-2008 it fully ensured the growth of the CEE economies, after the crisis of 2008, the contribution of TFP decreased by 2 times. In the conditions of recovery, TFP growth is positively influenced by inflation, negative CA balance, and unemployment reduction. In the post-crisis period, a decrease in inflation, a positive CA balance, and an increase in unemployment had a positive impact on TFP growth. During a depression, the influence of capital becomes dominant. Restrictive monetary policy contributes to the efficiency of CEE economies. In the short run, unemployment increases, but in the long run it decreases significantly due to the growth of investment and exports. Practical implications. The analysis makes it possible to identify effective macroeconomic policies to stimulate the productivity of the economies of Central and Eastern Europe during the period of economic recovery and depression. Value/originality. A long-term study of the economic performance of CEE countries using the Solow methodology has revealed the behavior of total factor productivity in different periods of modern economic history and its contribution to economic growth.

How to Cite

Bilenko, Y. (2022). ECONOMIC GROWTH AND TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES BETWEEN TWO GLOBAL CRISES AND BEYOND. Baltic Journal of Economic Studies, 8(4), 8-18. https://doi.org/10.30525/2256-0742/2022-8-4-8-18
Article views: 358 | PDF Downloads: 251

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##

Keywords

economic growth, total factor productivity, crisis, internal and external balance, CEE

References

Aghion, P., & Howitt, P. (2006). Joseph Schumpeter Lecture – Appropriate growth policy: a unifying framework. Journal of the European Economic Association, vol. 4, no. 2–3, pp. 269–314.

Aghion, P., Harmgart, H., & Weisshaar, N. (2010). Fostering growth in CEE countries: a country-tailored approach to growth policy. EBRD Working Paper, vol. 118. Available at: https://www.ebrd.com/downloads/research/economics/workingpapers/wp0118.pdf

Alam, A., Casero, P., Khan, F., & Udomsaph, C. (2008). Unleashing Prosperity. Productivity Growth in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The World Bank, 279 p.

Baier, S., Dwyer, G., & Tamura, R. (2002). How Important Are Capital and Total Factor Productivity for Economic Growth? Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Working Paper Series, 2a.

Blanchard, O. (2009). The Perfect Storm. Finance & Development, Volume 46, Number 2, p. 37–39.

Blanchard, O., & Kremer M. (1997). Disorganization. Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 112(4), p. 1091–1126.

Brada, J., & Bah El-hadj, M. (2009). Total Factor Productivity Growth, Structural Change and Convergence in the New Members of the European Union. Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 51(4), p. 421–446.

Burda, M., & Severgnini, B. (2009) TFP Growth in Old and New Europe. Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 51, p. 447–466.

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

Čihak, M., & Mitra S. (2009). Losing Their Halo. Finance & Development, Volume 46, Number 2, p. 12–14.

Coricelli, F., & Maure, M. (2010). Growth and crisis in transition : A comparative perspective. CES Working Papers, 2010.20. Available at: http://ces.univ-paris1.fr/cesdp/CES-docs.htm

Crafts, N. (2017). Wither Economic Growth. Finance & Development, Volume 54, Number 1, p. 2–6.

De Broek, M., & Koen, V. (2000). The Great Contractions in Russia, the Baltics and the Other Countries of the former Soviet Union: A View from the Supply Side. IMF Working Paper, 00/32.

Dobrinsky R., Hesse D., & Traeger R. (2006). Understanding the Long-term Growth Performance of the East European and CIS Economies. UNECE Discussion Paper Series, No. 2006.1.

Durlauf,S., Kourtellos, A., & Tan, C. M. (2008) Are Any Growth Theories Robust. The Economic Journal, vol. 118, no. 527, p. 329–346.

Easterly, W., & Fischer, S. (1995). The Soviet Economic Decline. World Bank Economic Review, vol. 9(3), p. 341–371.

Flows to Eastern Europe (2009). Finance & Development, Vol. 46, Number 3, p. 57.

IMF Economic Outlook Database (2021). Available at: https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2021/October

Iradian, G. (2007). Rapid Growth in Transition Economies: Growth-Accounting Approach,” IMF Working Paper, 07/164.

Krugman, P. (1997). The Age of Diminished Expectations. US Economic Policy in the 1990s. The MIT Press, 213 p.

Lane, P., & Milesi-Ferretti, G. (2006). Examing Global Imbalances. Finance and Development, Vol. 43, № 1, p. 38–41.

Levenko, N., Oja, K., & Staehr, K. (2017). Total Factor Productivity Growth in Central and Eastern Europe before, during and after the Global Financial Crisis. Eesti Pank Working Paper Series, vol. 8.

Roaf, J., Atoyan, R., Joshi, B., & Krogulski, K. (2014). 25 years of transition: post-communist Europe and the IMF. – Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund.

Schadler, S., Mody, A., Abiad, A., & Leigh, D. (2006). Growth in the Central an Eastern European countries of the European Union. Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund.

Solow, R. (1956). A Conribution to the Theory of Economic Growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 70, p. 65–94.

Solow, R. (1957). Technical Change and the Aggregate Production Function. Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. 39, p. 312–320.

Stigler, G. (1947). Trends in Output and Employment. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.

Tamura, R., Dwyer, G., Devereux, J., & Baier, S. (2016). Economic growth In the long run. MPRA Paper No. 80764. Available at: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/80764/

World Bank (2021). World Development Indicators. Available at: http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators

United Nations Statistics Division (2021). Available at: http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=SNA&f=group_code%3a401

Van Leeuwen, B., Didenko, D., & Fӧldvari, P. (2015). Inspiration vs. perspiration in economic development of the Former Soviet Union and China (ca. 1920-2010). Economics of Transition, vol. 23(1), p. 213–240.