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The separation and reunification of Germany : rethinking a natural experiment interpretation of the enduring effects of Communism
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Becker, Sascha O., Mergele, Lukas and Woessmann, Ludger (2020) The separation and reunification of Germany : rethinking a natural experiment interpretation of the enduring effects of Communism. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 34 (2). pp. 143-171. doi:10.1257/jep.34.2.143 ISSN 0895-3309.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/jep.34.2.143
Abstract
German separation in 1949 into a communist East and a capitalist West and their reunification in 1990 are commonly described as a natural experiment to study the enduring effects of communism. We show in three steps that the populations in East and West Germany were far from being randomly selected treatment and control groups. First, the later border is already visible in many socio-economic characteristics in pre-World War II data. Second, World War II and the subsequent occupying forces affected East and West differently. Third, a selective fifth of the population fled from East to West Germany before the building of the Wall in 1961. In light of our findings, we propose a more cautious interpretation of the extensive literature on the enduring effects of communist systems on economic outcomes, political preferences, cultural traits, and gender roles.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | |||||||||
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| Subjects: | D History General and Old World > DD Germany H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HX Socialism. Communism. Anarchism J Political Science > JA Political science (General) J Political Science > JC Political theory J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics | |||||||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Germany -- Politics and government -- 1945-1990, Comparative government, Germany -- History -- Unification, 1990, Democracy -- Germany, German reunification question (1949-1990) , Communism -- History -- 20th century -- Germany | |||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Economic Perspectives | |||||||||
| Publisher: | American Economic Association | |||||||||
| ISSN: | 0895-3309 | |||||||||
| Official Date: | 2020 | |||||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 34 | |||||||||
| Number: | 2 | |||||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 143-171 | |||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1257/jep.34.2.143 | |||||||||
| Institution: | University of Warwick | |||||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | |||||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | |||||||||
| Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): | Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by the American Economic Association. Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of American Economic Association publications for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not distributed for profit or direct commercial advantage and that copies show this notice on the first page or initial screen of a display along with the full citation, including the name of the author. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than AEA must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. The author has the right to republish, post on servers, redistribute to lists and use any component of this work in other works. For others to do so requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Permissions may be requested from the American Economic Association Administrative Office by going to the Contact Us form and choosing "Copyright/Permissions Request" from the menu. | |||||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | |||||||||
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright 2020 American Economic Association. All rights reserved | |||||||||
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 21 February 2020 | |||||||||
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 27 February 2020 | |||||||||
| RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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