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Lecture by Prof. Grzegorz W. Kolodko - Class 2008 |
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Syllabus
Professor Grzegorz W. Kolodko Class 2008
Globalization, Transformation and Development (Syllabus)
I. Overview of topics
The class on Globalization, Transformation and Development will focus on the economic aspects of the post-socialist transition to a market economy and democracy as well as on the implications of ongoing globalization for the evolution of post-socialist political, social and economic system. Special attention will be given to these processes in the Central European countries, however they will be considered within the framework of comparative analysis with the experiences of the republics of the former Soviet Union and China. The lecture will deal with both, the theoretical aspects of the post-socialist developments as well as the practical experience of policymaking in these countries. Globalization seems to be the most important feature of the contemporary economy. It changes the manner in which particular regions are participating in the world economic game. Information and technology, capital and money, goods and services, and still growing masses of people flow between the countries more freely and vigorously than ever. Actually, the significance of borders in the contemporary world is declining and the market for capital, as well as goods and certain services, is becoming strongly integrated into a single global market. However, globalization - including free trade and capital transfers - is causing several problems too. The issues of the growing inequality and the pace of growth of underdeveloped economies (lagging behind more advanced industrial countries recently even more than two or three decades ago) are of great importance. This is also a main factor contributing to growing anti-globalization sentiments and movements. What should be the response of the policies - and the way of their coordination on transnational scale - to the new challenges brought in by globalization? What is the role of international organizations with this regard? What can and should the NGOs do to this end? The newcomers into this global game are the emerging markets of the postsocialist countries in East Central Europe, the former Soviet Union and Asia. They consist of a large region from Central Europe to South Eastern Asia, which encompasses vast resources and altogether almost 500 million people. Additionally, in China the process of economic reforms has gained momentum and this large economy - with another 1.3 billion people - is more and more involved in the globalization endeavour, especially since China has joined the World Trade Organization and is contributing to the world GDP already close to 15 percent. In the future, if transition is managed in a reasonable way, one can expect these regions to become the fastest growing parts of the world economy, as China has been already for last two and half decade. Such chance creates a set of specific challenges for the policymakers. The postsocialist transition is a historical event leading from a centrally planned system to an open market economy. Simultaneously the process of democratization takes place. The ongoing political, social, cultural and economic changes are of paramount importance not only for the countries directly engaged in these complex transformations, but for their partners worldwide as well. Economic transition is a gradual process, consisting of liberalization and stabilization, institution building and microeconomic restructuring. It takes time and is costly, both in financial and social terms. However, the time span necessary for successful market transformation can be limited and the costs can be mitigated, if only transition strategies are designed properly, as it has happened during certain periods of time in Poland, however not only. The all of the postsocialist countries are already on the path of durable growth and sustainable development. Not yet all of the transitional countries have been able to overcome the pre-1989 level of production and consumption. Majority of them has been involved, for several years, in the great transitional depression. What political and economic forces are behind severe contraction and failures in some countries and what are the political institutions, economic policies and business strategies behind the successful developments elsewhere? Why the Polish economy was growing so fast in 1994-97 and then was brought almost to stagnation in 2001 and the first half of 2002, being able to take off again only since the second half of 2002 and in 2003? And why the economy has slowed down again after 2004? What is due to indispensable business cycle fluctuations and what is the outcome of executed policies? The crucial question deals with the compatibility of democratization and marketization. Do they facilitate each other, or are these two processes involved in some contradictions? Is the emerging democracy enhancing the emerging market, or is it making this process even more difficult? Hence, does democratization help the shift towards recovery and growth? What is the political economy of this relationship and what have we learned already in the last 20 years since the Polish Round Table and the fall of the Berlin Wall? The fundamental questions that will be addressed during the course are:
II. Essential readings
1. Fukuyama, Francis (2004). "State-Building. Governance and World Order in the 21st Century", Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York. 3. Kolodko, Grzegorz W. (2000b). "Post-Communist Transition. The Thorny Road", Rochester, NY, and Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: University of Rochester Press. 4. Kolodko, Grzegorz W. (2002). "Globalization and Catching-up in Transition Economies", Rochester, NY, and Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: University of Rochester Press. 5. Kolodko, Grzegorz W. (2003a). "Globalization and Catching-up in Emerging Market Economies", chapter 1, pp. 3-46, in: Kolodko (2003a) (ed.), "Emerging Market Economies. Globalization and Development", Aldershot, UK - Burlington, VT, Ashgate. See also: "Globalization and Catching-up in Emerging Market Economies", WIDER Discussion Paper, WDP No. 2002/51 (May) 6. Kolodko, Grzegorz W. (2003b). "Structural Reform and Economic Growth in 2002-03" 7. Kolodko, Grzegorz W. (2005), "Institutions, Policies and Growth", chapter 1, pp. 3-26, in: Kolodko (2005) (ed.), "The Polish Miracle. Lessons for the Emerging Markets", Aldershot, UK - Burlington, VT, Ashgate. See also: 8. Kornai, Janos (2002). "The Role of the State in a Post-Socialist Economy", Distinguished Lectures Series, No. 6, Leon Kozminski Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management (WSPiZ), Warsaw 9. Lin, Justin Yifu (2005). "Lessons of China's Transition from a Planned Economy to a Market Economy", Distinguished Lectures Series, No. 16, Leon Kozminski Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management (WSPiZ), Warsaw 10. Alexander Nekipielov (2004). "Public Preferences and their Role in Shaping Russian Economic Development", Distinguished Lectures Series, No. 15, Leon Kozminski Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management (WSPiZ), Warsaw 11. North, Douglass C. (2002). "Understanding Economic Change and Economic Growth", Distinguished Lectures Series, No. 7, Leon Kozminski Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management, Warsaw 12. Stiglitz, Joseph E. (1998). "More Instruments and Broader Goals: Moving towards the Post-Washington Consensus", WIDER Annual Lectures, 2, Helsinki: UNU/WIDER (January) 13. Stiglitz, Joseph E. (2002). "Globalization and Its Discontents", New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, chapter 5, "Who Lost Russia?", pp. 133-65. III. Optional readings 1. Blanchard, Olivier (1997). "The Economics of Post-Communist Transition", New York: Oxford University Press.
4. Robert A. Mundell (2002). "The International Financial Architecture. The Euro Zone And Its Enlargement in Eastern Europe", Distinguished Lectures Series, No. 1, Leon Kozminski Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management (WSPiZ), Warsaw 5. World Bank (2002). "Globalization, Growth and Poverty: Building an Inclusive World Economy", the World Bank, Oxford University Press, Washington DC
V. Issues, schedule and readings 1. Overview of the course (February 20th) 2. The fall of centrally planned economy and its implications for the postsocialist transformation (February 27th) 3. Globalization and postsocialist transformation. The feedback (March 5th) 5. The Washington consensus and the role of international organizations (March 19th) 6. Savings, capital formation and foreign direct investments in transition economies (April 2nd) 7. The role of institution-building in post-socialist change (April 9th) 8. The new role of state and the size of government (April 16th) 9. The dilemma of efficiency versus equity and the issue of social exclusion in post- socialist societies (April 23rd)
Nuti (2001). "Not 'just another accession'", Distinguished Lectures Series, No. 3, Leon Kozminski Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management (WSPiZ), Warsaw 11. The Russia's market transition and its implications (May 7th) 12. The political economy of China's way to a market economy (May 14th) 13. The Polish transformation and integration into the global economy (May 21st) 14. Globalization and catching-up in transition economies (May 28th) 15. Summary and conclusions from the debate (June 4th) |
