Corporate Governance and Economic Development

6Escalating Problems – Lessons From Russia, Poland, Brazil, and South Africa

DOI: 10.4324/9780429443459-6

This chapter examines four countries, which during the 1990s made an existential turn towards system change centered on open-market liberalization. While breaking up with the disastrous past, the countries pursued economic and political transformations and were expected to build high-capacity inclusive state institutions. New regulatory standards and commercial laws were among the most anticipated legislative changes. Of particular importance were the tasks of reforming state-owned enterprises and stimulating the development of a vibrant corporate sector capable of revitalizing the stagnant economies. The reforms unfolded differently and ...