On the Relationship Between Civil Liberties and Socio-Economic Development in Post-Socialist States

Abstract

This paper addresses the relationship between civil liberties and socio-economic development in post-socialist states in Central and Eastern Europe. Our analysis focuses on three categories of civil liberties: private civil liberties, political civil liberties, and physical integrity rights. The methodology used in the study consists of a panel vector autoregressive model. Our results imply that GDP growth in post-socialist states positively reacts to changes in civil liberties, while civil liberties positively react to changes in GDP growth. Moreover, the outcomes of the model suggest the presence of various intermediaries in the relationship between civil liberties and economic development in post-socialist states. These are domestic investment, foreign direct investment, total factor productivity, and judicial independence.

Keywords

• civil liberties
• economic analysis
• human rights
• rights protection
• constitutional economics