CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
| Author | Bastin, Maxime |
|---|---|
| Title | Entrenched in Western Europe's Backyard or on the Path to Economic Sovereignty: The Evolution of the Dependent Market Economy Model in Poland and Hungary Since the Global Financial Crisis |
| Summary | Theorization of the capitalist economic structures of East Central European (ECE) states has predominantly categorized the region as dependent on foreign-based transnational corporations (TNC), primarily from Western Europe. These countries are argued to have tightly linked their economic development to the profit-driven interests of these corporate entities. In 2009, Nölke and Vliegenthart conceptualized their economic structures as dependent market economies (DME) (Nölke and Vliegenthart 2009). However, Nölke and Vliegenthart’s work, along with much of the seminal literature on ECE capitalism, is grounded within a pre-Global Financial Crisis (GFC) perspective, raising questions about the continued relevance of the DME model in the post-GFC ECE landscape (Nölke and Vliegenthart 2009; Bohle and Greskovits 2012; Myant and Drahokoupil 2010). Recent debates in ECE comparative political economy engaged with the concept of domestic economic upgrading to assess potential shifts in the region’s economic trajectory, but no consensus has been reached. In this context, this thesis seeks to examine the extent to which domestic economic upgrading has led to their economic transformation away from the path-dependent model in the post-GFC era. It uses a market-led but policy-supported framework structured around three pillars. Each pillar is operationalized through quantitative indicators, whose evolution is examined using descriptive statistical methods. Focusing on the cases of Poland and Hungary, this thesis argues that both countries have shown some incremental progress toward higher domestic value-added, autonomous forms of production, which can be interpreted as a sign of steps toward a transition away from the DME model. However, this progress remains relative and varies considerably between the two countries. |
| Supervisor | Izsak Daniel |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/bastin_maxime.pdf |
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