This book focuses on the nexus between constitutions adopted by post-socialist countries of Europe and Asia after 1989 and economic transition in the region. It takes the perspective of Constitutional Political Economy and argues for the role of constitutions as commitment-enhancing mechanisms for political decision makers in the field of post-socialist economic reforms. For the first time in economic studies of constitutions this book employs the synthetic control method – a novel empirical approach allowing to account for endogeneity and causality issues. The blend of theory (including evolutionary insights) and empirical results allows to formulate recommendations for constitution drafters, emphasizing the role of factual constitutional court independence for successful economic reforms.

Katarzyna Metelska-Szaniawska is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the University of Warsaw. Her research focuses on Constitutional Law and Economics, as well as Public Choice. She was a visiting scholar at LICOS Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance at the University of Leuven. She is the former President of the Polish Association of Law and Economics and Vice-President of the European Association of Law and Economics.