Height and Well-Being During the Transition from Plan to Market

Alícia Adserà (1) , Francesca Dalla Pozza (2) , Sergei Guriev (3, 4) , Lukas Kleine-Rueschkamp (5, 6) , Elena Nikolova (7)

1 Princeton University
2 EBRD - European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
3 ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po)
4 CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research
5 University of Oxford
6 OCDE - Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques = Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
7 UCL - University College of London [London]

Using newly available data, we re-evaluate the impact of transition from plan to market in former communist countries on objective and subjective well-being. We find clear evidence of the high social cost of early transition reforms: cohorts born around the start of transition are about 1 cm shorter than their older or younger peers. We provide suggestive evidence on the importance on mechanisms that partially explain these results: the decline of GDP per capita and the deterioration of healthcare systems. On the bright side, we find that cohorts that experienced transition in their infancy are now better educated and more satisfied with their lives than their counterparts. Taken together, our results imply that the transition process has been a traumatic experience, but that its negative impact has largely been overcome.

Mots clés: Transition from plan to market; Structural reforms; Height; Well-being

Domaines: Economies et finances

Alícia Adserà, Francesca Dalla Pozza, Sergei Guriev, Lukas Kleine-Rueschkamp, Elena Nikolova. Height and Well-Being During the Transition from Plan to Market. Economic Policy, 2021, 36 (105), pp.77-120. ⟨10.1093/epolic/eiaa030⟩. ⟨hal-03878624⟩