TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Otrachshenko, Vladimir
AU  - Nikolova, Milena
AU  - Popova, Olga
        TI  - Double-Edged Sword: Persistent Effects of Communism on Life Satisfaction
        PY  - 2021/Sep/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 14712
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp14712
        AB  - Communism was a two-edged sword for the trustees of the former regime. Communist party members and their relatives enjoyed status and privileges, while secret police informants were often coerced to work clandestinely and gather compromising materials about friends, colleagues, and neighbors. We examine the long-term consequences of such connections to the communist regime for life satisfaction in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. We also calculate a monetary equivalent of those effects and empirically test mechanisms. The findings underscore that past communist regime connections have a persistent but differential effect on life satisfaction.
        KW  - elite networks
KW  - Communist regime
KW  - historical legacy
KW  - Eastern Europe
KW  - former Soviet Union
KW  - life satisfaction
KW  - Communist party
KW  - informants
        ER  -