Synopses & Reviews
In this book, Federico Sturzenegger and Mariano Tommasi propose formal models to answer some of the questions raised by the recent reform experience of many Latin American and East European countries. They apply common standards of analytical rigor to the study of economic and political behavior, assuming political agents to be rational and forward-looking, with expectations consistent with the properties of the underlying model.The book is organized around three basic questions: first, why do reforms take place? Second, how are reforms implemented? And third, which candidates are most likely to undertake reform? Although most of the chapters deal with policy issues in developing economies, the findings also apply to areas such as social security and health care reform in industrialized countries.
Review
"The Asian crises have once again highlighted the importance ofpolitics in economic policy formulation. This volume is thereforeespecially welcome, containing many of the promising models of thepolitical economy of reform (or non-reform)." Anne O. Krueger , Herald L.and Caroline L. Ritch Professor ofHumanities and Sciences, Economics Department, Stanford University The MIT Press
Synopsis
"At last, a collection of the best articles on the political economy of reform. It is one that I shall use in my classes and assign to my students."
In this book, Federico Sturzenegger and Mariano Tommasi propose formal models to answer some of the questions raised by the recent reform experience of many Latin American and East European countries. They apply common standards of analytical rigor to the study of economic and political behavior, assuming political agents to be rational and forward-looking, with expectations consistent with the properties of the underlying model.The book is organized around three basic questions: first, why do reforms take place? Second, how are reforms implemented? And third, which candidates are most likely to undertake reform? Although most of the chapters deal with policy issues in developing economies, the findings also apply to areas such as social security and health care reform in industrialized countries.
About the Author
Federico Sturzenegger is President of the Banco Ciudad de Buenos Aires. He is the coauthor, with Jeromin Zettelmeyer, of Debt Defaults and Lessons from a Decade of Crises (MIT Press, 2007).