Heft36 1 - SFB 580 - Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

AGNIESZKA REFERENCES LITERATUR K. CIANCIARA
The institutionalist-evolutionary approach
provides the most adequate perspective for
socio-economic analysis of business-politics
relations in the CEE hybrid environment.
This is in line with the so-called 4 th wave of
transition studies, which are rather suspicious
of modernist logics of linear transformation
and the centrality of markets, liberalization
and liberal politics for the social re-engineering
of post-socialist economy (Pickles, 2008).
Instead, emphasis is put on cultural studies,
social theory, historical legacies and new forms
of regional economic analysis that account for
specificities of state rule and economic practice.
Varieties of post-communist capitalist models
derive from cultural and historical contexts and
greatly depend on the state of institutions in
the initial phase of transformation (Lissowska,
2008).
The purpose of this article is thus to analyse
how business-politics relations at the
national level, structured by the processes of
transformation and consolidation, affect the
effectiveness of Polish lobbying 3 at the EU
level. To this end, I draw on recent literature
on post-socialist politics and economic change,
varieties of capitalism, Europeanization and
business interests at the national and EU levels.
The empirical analysis is carried out on the
basis of interviews (March 2007-March 2009)
with Polish representatives of state-owned
companies, national federations and european
federations based in Brussels.
POLISH CAPITALISM: MAIN FEATURES SHAPING
BUSINESS-POLITICS RELATIONS
The crucial factor shaping capitalism in Poland,
including relations between political and
business elites, is the socialist or post-socialist
heritage transferred directly or indirectly in
the transformation process. Namely, Poland
inherited a system of ‘destroyed capitalism’
(Balcerowicz, 1997). The socialist economy was
based on fundamentally different incentives
and organizational forms than the ones proper
to the market economy. Therefore, remnants
of this system constitute barriers to effective
functioning of mechanisms of the developed
capitalist economy. Under socialism, private
economic activity was subject to strict state
control, notably through the granting of
licenses, or permissions and enforcement of
changeable maximum levels of production,
as well as employment limits. Officially,
social ownership was supported by the state,
regardless of its economic efficiency, while
private initiative was regarded as the necessary
evil. Due to unstable conditions of economic
activities and fully discretionary character of
administrative decisions, the entrepreneurs
were restraining their activities, cutting on
investments, employing temporary, instead
of long distance, business perspectives and
counting for immediate gains without paying
attention to economic or social consequences
of their activities ( Jasiecki, 2002).
Such thinking survived the transition
in the form of lack of strategic
planning, lack of social responsibility
and limited trust towards law or
decision-makers.
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