Belarus experienced rapid economic growth in the 2000's, which abruptly came to halt after 2008. The authors found that the major source of growth was capital accumulation, while growth in total factor productivity (TFP) was modest. Moreover, government interventions and controls on the capital market contributed to misallocation which lowered aggregate productivity. Lack of productivity growth led to the loss of competitiveness on the international markets. Comparisons of TFP in Belarus with the Czech Republic and Sweden shows that comparative advantages of Belarus are concentrated in the natural-resource based industries, and TFP gap with the Czech Republic is not closing over time.

Decomposition of Economic Growth in Belarus

Can Anti-Smoking Campaigns Increase Obesity? Evidence from Belarus

Using a large nationally representative survey from Belarus, the authors estimate the effect of the number of cigarettes smoked per day on individuals’ body mass index (BMI) and on the probability of being overweight and obese.

This paper is an attempt to replicate the co-movement of hours and productivity observed in the post-war U.S. data using one shock model.