The long shadow of the past
Historical inheritance and quantitative social science
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
All regional studies are based on the assumption that different countries or regions are characterised by historical differences. In recent years, political scientists and economists have also begun to use statistical methods to study the influence of history on present-day developments in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Such studies look at the variation of historical developments and attempt to draw conclusions as to the cause-effect relationship between the past and the present. The research is delivering a broad range of results, which in many individual cases confirm the influence of historical inheritance – the inheritance of socialism as well as the pre-socialist order. Here, the highest level of methodological care is required, however.
(Osteuropa 6/2018, pp. 18–66)