Good bye Lenin (or not?): The Effect of Communism on People's Preferences

Alberto Alesina () and Nichola Fuchs Schuendeln

No 11700, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Preferences for redistribution, as well as the generosities of welfare states, differ significantly across countries. In this paper, we test whether there exists a feedback process of the economic regime on individual preferences. We exploit the "experiment" of German separation and reunification to establish exogeneity of the economic system. From 1945 to 1990, East Germans lived under a Communist regime with heavy state intervention and extensive redistribution. We find that, after German reunification, East Germans are more in favor of redistribution and state intervention than West Germans, even after controlling for economic incentives. This effect is especially strong for older cohorts, who lived under Communism for a longer time period. We further find that East Germans' preferences converge towards those of West Germans. We calculate that it will take one to two generations for preferences to converge completely.

JEL-codes: H3 E6 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-mac and nep-pbe
Date: 2005-10
Note: PE POL
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