| Recently, many social scientists have turned their attention to the role that context plays in understanding real-world, dynamic phenomena such as institutional, economic, and social change. This dissertation is an effort to contribute to this growing trend of contextual analysis. The dissertation investigates how and why the heterogeneity of, and interaction between "institutions" across societies shapes the manifestations of economic, institutional, and socio-cultural change. The research focuses on the experience with the collapse of communism and the ongoing transitions in Central and Eastern European, and Former Soviet countries. |
