As part of the project ‘Belarus and Poland. From Historical Roots of Economic and Political System to Planning of Institutional Development’ the mentality of contemporary Belarusians and Poles relating to behaviour in the political and economic spheres will be characterized. The studies will trace the formation of institutions (formal and informal norms of human behaviour) and then country-specific institutional matrices in both countries. On this basis, areas of desirable changes increasing social systems efficiency and tools for their implementation will be indicated, taking into account the specificity of formal and informal institutions in both countries (Institutional Planning). A set of tools for the selection of strategic goals of modern development, especially in the area of operation of the ministries of education and social policy will constitute the result of the project.
The project is carried out in the area of social sciences, and specifically economics. It will use the theory and tools of the new institutional economics, which studies the influence of politics, culture and history on economic processes, in particular theoretical achievements of, among others, such scholars as: D.C. North, O. Williamson, D. Acemoglu, J. Robinson, J. Wilkin, R. F. Inglehart. So far, there has been no research that would attempt to explain in such a comprehensive way, from an institutional perspective, the trajectories of the historical development of Poland and Belarus. The results of the research will provide important indications regarding the areas that require institutional changes and the development of appropriate tools and ways of conducting policies adapted to the mentality of citizens.
The project is implemented under the framework of the "Solidarity with Scientists" NAWA programme at the Department of History of Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Sociology, University of Lodz by prof. Aliaksandra Sidarava and dr hab. Andrzej Pieczewski.
Aliaksandra Sidarava, prof. of the Belarusian State University (BSU) in Minsk – currently a scholarship holder of the NAWA programme "Solidarity with Belarus" – is a researcher in the field of institutional economics and economic development. Her research interests include informal institutions, their impact on the functioning of formal institutions, and institutional development. She is an author of a monograph and a number of scientific articles on this topic. She knows the interdisciplinary approach to institutional system analysis well.
Dr hab. Andrzej Pieczewski – an experienced researcher working in the fields of institutional economics, economic history and history of economic thought. The subject of his interest and research includes the influence of politics, culture, ideology and history on long-term economic development. He is an author of many works in this field. Some of them have been published in renowned Western journals. He has been awarded the prestigious Franciszek Bujak Prize by the Polish Association of Economic History for the best book in the area of economic history - Samodzierżawie a rozwój gospodarczy Królestwa Polskiego w ujęciu Jana Gottlieba Blocha [Rusian autocracy and the economic development of the Kingdom of Poland as perceived by Jan Gottlieb Bloch].
Source: dr hab. Andrzej Pieczewski, Faculty of Economics and Sociology, UL
Edit: Promotion Centre, UL