The Great Recession and social preferences: Evidence from Ukraine

We use detailed survey data to document stark differences between West and East Ukraine when it comes to household attitudes toward market-based economies and democratic institutions. Along both of these dimensions, Eastern Ukrainians are decidedly less supportive of liberal systems. We also find that economic attitudes changed in response to the global financial crisis. West Ukrainian households who were affected more extensively by the crisis were more disappointed with the market and private ownership, while in Eastern Ukraine economic attitudes became less pro-market across the board. Our evidence suggests that attitudes and values are determined by both deep-rooted factors and more transient macroeconomic shocks. Journal of Comparative Economics 44 (1) (2016) 92-107. EBRD, United Kingdom and Tilburg University, the Netherlands;Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain;EBRD, United Kingdom. (C) 2015 Association for Comparative Economic Studies. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.