Institutional Competition And External Constraints of Transformation : Institutional Transfer and Institutional Imitation in the former GDR and in Central and Eastern Europe

Seliger, Bernhard SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL AND AREA STUDIES SEOUL NAT 2002 Journal of International and Area Studies Vol.9 No.1

Twelve years after the change of economic and political systems in Central and Eastern Europe indicators of economic performance and insitutional development still point out that transformation is incomplete. However, the debate of transformation strategies, earlier focusing on 'shock therapy versus gradualism', changed. Recently, transformation theory focuses on factors influencing the success of transformation, including initial conditions, institutional arrangements and policy choices. In this paper, the external restrictions on institutional choice due to national(in the case of Germany) and international economic integration are analyzed. Especially the EU accession can be seen as a form of institutional commitment and restriction of institutional choice. Based on a brief outline of the theory of institutional competition, the strategies of institutional transfer in the former GDR, institutional imitation in countries aiming at EU membership and institutional innovation are discussed. While closing the 'window of opportunity' in transformation institutional transfer or imitation can considerably reduce uncertainties surrounding transformation for business and state.

Systemic Conflict, Geopolitics, and Trade-Underlying Factors of Communication Between East and West Germany During Division and the Current Situation on the Korean Peninsula

Seliger, Bernhard J. Ewha Institute of Unification Studies 2012 Journal of peace and unification Vol.2 No.1

As the recent “Arab spring” movement has shown, control of communication is crucial for the survival of nondemocratic regimes. In particular, outside communication that allows citizens to compare alternative political regimes is dangerous. German East-West relations and East-West communication in the time of Cold War from 1945 to 1989 were much thicker than inner-Korean relations at the same time and today. This paper identifies three main driving factors of communication, namely Cold War competition, the existence of West Berlin, and trade relations. Every attempt to improve inter-Korean relations has to start from the fact that the current North Korean regime has no interest in open communication, which erodes the internal controlling power of the state.

Entrepreneurial Activity, Transition and The State­some lessons from Central and Eastren Europe

Seliger, Bernhard 한국외국어대학교 2000 한국외국어대학교 논문집 Vol.32 No.-

ECONOMIC INTEGRATION IN NORTHEAST ASIA : PRECONDITIONS AND POSSIBLE TRAJECTORIES

Seliger, Bernhard 연세대학교 동서문제연구원 2002 Global economic review Vol.31 No.4

When in November 2001, the leaders of the Southeast Asian and Northeast Asian states met for the "ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) plus three (China, Japan and Korea)," President Kim Dae-Jung of South Korea proposed the exploration for an East Asian Free Trade Area (EAFTA) and thereby opened a new chapter of East Asian integration. The special Northeast Asian perspective on regional co-operation became clear by the simultaneous decision to hold annual meetings of finance and trade ministers of China, Japan and Korea. At the same time, bilateral agreements, like a free trade area between Japan and Singapore, the tentative large free trade area between ASEAN and China and the work-in-progress on a Korean-Japanese Free Trade Area, show the devotion and sometimes even obsession of current policy-making with reaching regional trade agreements. Regional integration, it seems, is finally on the Northeast Asian agenda. In this paper, the preconditions and perspectives of economic integration in Northeast Asia will be explored. Since economic integration is in various ways linked to political factors, the second section discusses the geo-political situation of Northeast Asia today. The third section deals with the economic perspectives of different forms of trade integration, followed by an analysis of various attempts for greater macro-economic and financial co-operation and a short conclusion.

THE GERMAN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY FACES GLOBALIZATION : OLD ACHIEVEMENTS, NEW CHALLENGES

Bernhard Seliger 연세대학교 동서문제연구원 2000 Global economic review Vol.29 No.2

While the German manufacturing industry is internationally renowned and often seen as the backbone of German economic development, it has encountered some obstacles in the past few years. These obstacles are related with the emergence of new competitors, the shifts of economic activity in Europe due to economic integration and he challenge of German unification. This paper analyzes the historical development of the German manufacturing industry By discussing the problems of German manufacturing industry in a globalized world, conclusions for necessary reforms can be drawn.

Unification costs in Germany and Korea-a comparative perspectivea comparative perspective

Bernhard Seliger 동아대학교 동아시아연구원 2009 동아시아 : 비교와 전망 Vol.8 No.2

This paper discusses the unification costs of Germany and Korea in comparative perspective. In Germany it took 17 years before the public budget after unification has been for the first time in structural surplus. In terms of financial sustainability, East Germany remained a transfer economy dependent on transfers of around one third of its GDP for the foreseeable future. While convergence between East and West in terms of economic indicators had been initially strong, later this process stopped. In Korea, based on static calculations the unification burden might be even larger than in Germany, since the difference of the economic activity between both Koreas is much larger than in the German case. At the same time, pressure for rapid convergence might be even stronger than in Germany, based on income differences. However, this view tends to neglect the costs related to current division, as well in monetary as in human terms.

Stone Mirror. Reflections on Contemporary Korea.

BERNHARD SELIGER 계명대학교 한국학연구원 2009 Acta Koreana Vol.12 No.2

The Costs of German Unification : A Reconsideration after 20 Years

Bernhard Seliger 대한공간정보학회 2008 한국지형공간정보학회 학술대회 Vol.2008 No.12

The year 2007 marked in Germany an important event 17 years after unification. As the German Statistical Office revealed in February 2008, for the first time after unification the German public budgets (i.e. the central, regional and local governments plus social security funds) have been in a structural surplus. Though the deplorable state of East Germany's economy became visible after the opening of the border, still most politicians and also most economic experts hoped that unification was largely self-financing, by the revenues of privatization. The last communist prime minister of East Germany, Hans Modrow, estimated in early 1990 the East German collective property (volkseigenes Vermoegen) at around 1,6 trill. Ostmark. Even with a realistic exchange rate for the East German mark, this would have been a meant a handy treasure to pay the costs of unification. But the collective property proved to be a phantom. The Treuhand organization, responsible for privatization of East Germany's companies, alone accumulated debts of 205 bn. Deutschmark, and this does not include any of the infrastructure investment necessary or any of the social transfers necessary to stop mass migration from East to West. In the course of 20 years after unification the East German economy was completely restructured, but at a high price: the costs for unification were and are enormous and still the East-West gap remains considerable, not in consumption, but in production. A transfer economy was established permanently dependent on West German resources.

The Future of the European Union : The Road to Serfdom or the Road to Freedom?

Bernhard Seliger 한독사회과학회 1999 한독사회과학논총 Vol.9 No.1

Institutional Competition And External Constraints of Transformation - Institutional Transfer and Institutional Imitation in the former GDR and in Central and Eastern Europe

Bernhard Seliger 서울대학교 국제학연구소 2002 Journal of International and Area Studies Vol.9 No.1

  Twelve years after the change of economic and political systems in Central and Eastern Europe indicators of economic performance and institutional development still point out that transformation is incomplete. However, the debate of transformation strategies, earlier focusing on "shock therapy versus gradualism", changed. Recently, transformation theory focuses on factors influencing the success of transformation, including initial conditions, institutional arrangements and policy choices. In this paper, the external restrictions on institutional choice due to national (in the case of Germany) and international economic integration are analyzed. Especially the EU accession can be seen as a form of institutional commitment and restriction of institutional choice. Based on a brief outline of the theory of institutional competition, the strategies of institutional transfer in the former GDR, institutional imitation in countries aiming at EU membership and institutional innovation are discussed. While closing the ‘window of opportunity’ in transformation, institutional transfer or imitation can considerably reduce uncertainties surrounding transformation for business and state.