Economy of post‐Communist capitalism under the financial crisis

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to distinguish the economic foundations of post‐Communist capitalism and to examine the key economic problems of this type of society in the context of the modern financial crisis.

Design/methodology/approach

This question is approached by studying the “necroeconomy” as a phenomenon of post‐Communist capitalism and the international experience of the dead firms, so‐called “zombie‐firms”, which do exist and “successfully” function in the most developed of economies as well with Japan being the most obvious example. Unlike developed economies, which are exposed to the threat of the zombie‐ing of the economy under the conditions of a financial crisis, this threat is even greater for the countries of post‐Communist capitalism owing also to their exposure to necroeconomy.

Findings

It is found that the financial crisis creates the favourable conditions for the zombie‐ing of a necroeconomy. If in Japan, for example, the zombie‐economy never touched the processing industries, then one of the qualities of the necroeconomy is to concentrate exactly upon this sector of the economy. The zombie‐ing of a necroeconomy inevitably amounts to the zombie‐ing of this already‐dead sector as well.

Originality/value

The value of the paper is to determine the carriers of the necroeconomic and zombie‐economic routines – Homo Transformaticus and Zombie Economicus, respectively. The contemporary financial crisis creates the danger of the transformation of Homo Transformaticus into a Zombie Economicus.

Citation

Papava, V. (2010), "Economy of post‐Communist capitalism under the financial crisis", Studies in Economics and Finance, Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 135-147. https://doi.org/10.1108/10867371011048625