667K. Rudy (kvrudy@gmail.com),
Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Belarus, 17, Moscow Str., Minsk, 220007, Republic of Belarus
Abstract. Long-term transition to the market in Belarus institutionalized hybrid business relations and behavior practices of economic agents. Decision-making is mostly based on the national cultural matrix rather than rational economic rules. The main features of Belarusian behavioral economy: dualism, orientation to the Soviet past, paternalism. Dualism splits such features of Belarusian society as collectivism/individualism, emotional/restraint. Orientation to the Soviet past brings up big-scale thinking and, simultaneously, short-term view. In combination with paternalism this supports persistence of authoritarianism and dirigisme. Belarusian society is united not by the common values but by the state. As a result, economic relations are mainly established by the government with minor role of the private business and other actors. All these social features are reflected in the behavioral economy of Belarus. Dualism can be seen in co-existence of administrative and market relations, in inconsequence of economic transformations, in controversy of different forms of ownership and management models, in combination of public loyalty and pursue of personal interests which increase the level of shadow economy in terms of official economic recession. Orientation to the Soviet past supports economic passivity, increases consumerism and decreases savings and investments, holds back privatization of the state-owned (“public”) enterprises, and keeps alive the mobilization model of managing the national economy. Belarusian paternalism functions cyclically from authoritarianism to dirigisme and back. It is getting stronger with the help of orientation on the Soviet past with far-distanced center for decision-making, searching for the external support from other country, and idealization of the personal role in economy. All this forms paternalistic attitude to such market values as ownership, responsibility, initiative, control. In general, the existing Belarusian cultural matrix seems to present a long-term barrier for economic growth. Given population aging, underdevelopment of public and market counterweights to state this defines persistence of negative features of the behavioral economy in this country.
Keywords: Belarus, behavioral economy, cultural matrix, transitional economy, business management, private sector, state-owned enterprises
REFERENCES
1. Kaneman D. Dumai medlenno… Reshai bystro [Think slow… Decide fast]. Moscow, AST, 2013. 656 p.
2. Guiso L., Sapienzia P., Zingales L. Does Culture Affect Economic Outcomes? NBER Working Paper no. 11999, February 2006, pp. 23-48. DOI:10.3386/w11999
3. Barberis N., Thaler R. A Survey of Behavioral Finance. NBER Working Paper no. 9222, September 2002. 77 p.
4. Vissing-Jorgensen A. Perspectives on Behavioral Finance: Does “Irrationality” Disappear with Wealth? Evidence from Expectations and Actions. NBER Macroeconomic Annual 2003. Vol. 18, 2004. Available at: http://www.nber.org/chapters/c11443.pdf (accessed 11.10.2017).
5. Kuperman A., Saigal N., Shiller A. Religiya i natsional’naya prinadlezhnost’ v Tsentral’noi i Vostochnoi Evrope [Religion and national identification in Central and Eastern Europe]. Washington, Pew Research Center, 2017. 52 ð.
6. Rudy K.V., ed. Finansovaya dieta: reformy gosudarstvennykh finansov Belarusi [Financial diet: public finance reforms in Belarus]. Minsk, Publishing House “Zviazda”, 2016. 464 p.
7. Kotlyarov I.V. et al. Belorusskoe obshchestvo v kontekste tsivilizatsionno-kul’turnogo koda: sotsiologicheskoe izmerenie [Belarus society in the frame of civilized-cultural code: social measurement]. Minsk, Belarusskaya Dumka, 2017. 392 ð.
8. Gorodnichenko Y., Roland G. Which Dimensions of Culture Matter for Long Run Growth. American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 2011, vol. 101, no. 3, pp. 492-498.
9. Gorodnichenko Y., Roland G. Culture, Institutions and the Wealth of Nations. NBER Working Paper no. 16368. September 2010. 51 ð.
10. Gorodnichenko Y., Roland G. Culture, Institutions and Democratization. NBER Working Paper no. 21117. April 2015. 43 ð.
11. Beloveshkin A. Chistaya biologiya – pochemu biznesmeny chuvstvuyut “vyuchennuyu bespomoshchnost’” [Pure biology – why businessmen feel “learned insecurity” (In Russ)] Available at: https://people.onliner.by/opinions/2016/05/03/mnenie-438 (accessed 11.10.2017).
12. Mlodinow L. Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior. New York, Vintage Books, 2012. 260 p.
13. Banerjee A., Duflo E. Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty. New York, Public Affairs, 2012. 320 p.
14. Prokazina N.V., ed. Vosproizvodstvo istoricheskoi pamyati o Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine v obshchestvennom soznanii zhitelei Belarusi i Rossii: sravnitel’nyi analiz [Reconstruction of historical memory about WWII in the mindset of Belarus and Russia: Comparative Analysis]. Orel, Izdatel’stvo of RANKhiGS, 2014. 220 p.
15. Kotlyarov I.V., Abushenko V.L., Babosov E.M. et al. Belarus’ na puti v budushchee: sotsiologicheskoe izmerenie [Belarus on the way to the future]. Minsk, Belarusskaya dumka, 2015. 497 p.
16. Yasin E. Razvitie postsovetskoi ekonomiki: iz proshlogo v budushchee [Development of Post-Soviet economy: from past to future] Voprosy ekonomiki, 2017, no. 6, pp. 5-21.
Registered in System SCIENCE INDEX
No comments