Institutional Changes and Income Inequality: Some Aspects of Economic Change and Evolution of Values in CEE Countries

Abstract

©, Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This article examines the effects of institutional changes on the dynamics of income inequality in postcommunist countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The results of a panel analysis suggest two types of institutional changes: endogenous, in the first period of transition, associated with worsening income distribution, and exogenous, in the second period of transition, associated with stabilization in income distribution. The persistence of high income inequality in the second period of transition is explained by a post-transitional tolerance for inequality, which reflects economic evolution but also indicates a possible evolution of values in CEE countries.