Life in Life in TransitionTransition

Office of the Chief Economist

EBRD

Life in Transition SurveyLife in Transition Survey29,000 households

surveyed in September 2006

Joint project with the World

Bank

28 transition countries,

plus Turkey

Life satisfaction

Questions include:

Political, economic and social values

Trust in public

institutions

Corruption

Public spending priorities

Transition Transition –– past, present and futurepast, present and future

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

My householdlives better

nowadays thanaround 1989

All thingsconsidered, Iam satisfiedwith my life

now

Children whoare born now

will have abetter life thanmy generation

DisagreeNo viewAgree

Looking back, only 30% of people believe that life is better now than in 1989Today, more people are satisfied than dissatisfied with their livesLooking ahead, a majority of people believe that the future will be better for their children

Younger people more upbeat than Younger people more upbeat than older generationolder generationOlder generation has borne the brunt of painful economic and political reformsYounger generation poised to reap the benefits

0%10%20%30%40%50%

60%70%80%90%

100%

18-34 35-49 50-64 65+

DissatisfiedNo viewSatisfied

The page of history has turnedThe page of history has turnedStrong support for democracy and marketsStrong support for democracy and markets

More people support democracy and market economy than alternativesBut one in ten still support a combination of planned economy and authoritarian governmentAnd one in five believe that form of political and economic system does not matter for them

10%

20%

36%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Dem

ocra

cyDo

esn’

t mat

ter

Auth

orita

rian

govt

Market economyDoesn't matter

Planned economy

…… but significant variation across the but significant variation across the regionregion

R2 = 0.6366

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Percent of respondents who support democracy

SEE CIS+M CEB

CEB countries clustered around moderately high support for both democracy and marketsWhile support for democracy and markets in SEE and CIS+M varies more widely

Percent of respondents who support market economy

The better off tend to support The better off tend to support democracydemocracy……

Support for democracy,by income group

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Low income Mediumincome

High income

Democracy Doesn't matter Authoritarian gov't

…… as well as market economiesas well as market economies

Support for market economy,by employment

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Unemployed Employed

Market economy Doesn't matter Planned economy

Transition has eroded trustTransition has eroded trust……

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Most people couldbe trusted prior to

1989

Most people can betrusted now

DistrustNo viewTrust

Across the region, societal trust was stronger prior to 1989In general, trust is low in the transition countriesLITS confirms previous survey findings in this field

…… but not for every institutionbut not for every institution

-60%

-40%

-20%

0%

20%

40%

60%

Arm

edFo

rces

Pre

side

ncy

Ban

ks

Polic

e

Gov

ernm

ent

Cou

rts

Parli

amen

t

Polit

ical

Parti

es

TrustDistrustNo view

Corruption remains a problemCorruption remains a problem……

"There is less corruption now than around 1989"

14% 9%19%

23%16%

17%

63%75%

63%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

CEB SEE CIS+M

Agree No view Disagree

…… particularly in some sectorsparticularly in some sectors

Corruption in public services

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Une

mpl

oym

ent

bene

fits

Oth

er b

enef

its

Pol

ice

Cou

rts

Offi

cial

docu

men

ts

Publ

iced

ucat

ion

Roa

d po

lice

Publ

ic h

ealth

syst

em

Infrequent Sometimes Frequent

Public prioritises spending on human Public prioritises spending on human capitalcapital

CEB

Education

Health

Housing

Pensions

SEE

Education

Health

Housing

Pensions

CIS+M

Education

Health

Housing

Pensions

Remaining categories are ‘Environment’, ‘Public infrastructure’ and ‘Other’

Life in Life in TransitionTransition

Office of the Chief Economist

EBRD

www.ebrd.com/economics