News
Does political illegitimacy in Belarus imply new economic risks?
06 October 2020
Policy brief: Today’s political crisis in Belarus has given a rise to the phenomenon classified in political science as political illegitimacy. However, this is not a pure political phenomenon. It causes adverse and severe economic adjustments. In a short-term perspective, it gives a rise to numerous risks of financial destabilization. Moreover, it is likely to deepen the current recession and make it protracted. In the long-term, political illegitimacy causes adverse institutional adjustments and erosion of human capital, which is likely to lead a country into a long-standing depression.
Transition and Beyond: Women on the labour market in the context of changing social norms
01 October 2020
What are the developments of gender gaps in the labour market and social norms related to labour market activity? Authors from BEROC, BICEPS, CenEA, CEFIR, ISET PI and SITE discuss change of labour markets in the latest FROGEE brief.
Democracy in transition – the first 30 years
15 September 2020
Last year marked an important milestone as the world celebrated the 30-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the first post-communist election in Poland. Despite the latest developments, there is still a large democratic gap between transition countries that became EU members and other transition countries.
New book digs deep into Putin's Russia
10 September 2020
What do we really know about Putin’s Russia? How far will the Russian economy, military prowess and international ambitions go? Torbjörn Becker together with other distinguish researchers and authors provides a basis for assessing Russia's prospects without the distortions caused by fake news and disinformation wars in the new book “Putin’s Russia - Economy, Defence and Foreign Policy” edited by Professor Steven Rosefielde of University of North Carolina.
Can government change save Belarus – the last Soviet economy
20 August 2020
SvD Näringsliv recently interviewed Torbjörn Becker – Director of Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics – sharing his impression about the current situation in Belarus and what potential role Russia have in all of this.
The shock effects of the pandemic and the authoritarian threat
15 April 2020
Six months after the corona virus first appeared, the world economy is entering a deep economic crisis that could result in political power shifts at global level. The absence of leadership in the US and the EU gives China and Russia increased confidence and leeway, according to Torbjörn Becker and co-author Martin Kragh in their latest chronicle published at Utrikesmagasinet.
Russia Economic Update — Brace for the Covid-19 Impact
07 April 2020
Russia’s oil dependence will once again contribute to an economic downturn that most certainly will follow the Covid-19 outbreak in Russia as in other countries. The decline in oil prices alone could lead to a drop in GDP of more than 8 percent. Will Russia face difficult trade-offs in dealing with the crisis at a time?
COVID-19 | FREE Network project
07 April 2020
In a joint collaboration, Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics together with members of the FREE Network initiative are now providing coverage on the COVID-19 situation in the Eastern European region. What is the current situation in Belarus, Georgia, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Ukraine?
What has happened to the Russian economy since 2000?
05 March 2020
Although significant growth has been achieved since 2000, all of this came in the first two tenures of Putin in the Kremlin during the increasing oil prices. But is Russia still a hostage to the whims of international oil market?
Transition is (still) not a done deal
28 February 2020
SITE's Director, Torbjörn Becker, shares his thoughts and reflection on a Baltic Rim Economies article about 30 years after the first post-communist election in Poland, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and EU's integration for many post-communist countries.