Economic history study
The monograph by Dr Damian Bębnowski is an economic history study embedded in the theoretical perspective of institutional economics, especially positive constitutional economics and the property rights theory. It covers the period of 25 years of transformation of the German economy after the so-called second reunification.
Constitutional and property rules set the legal and institutional framework for the transformation process of East Germany and the unification, integration and convergence of the two parts of the state after 1990. Although the last process was not completed, the effects of these formal institutions were positive, especially for the economy of the former GDR.
Research and a substantial group of sources
The research conducted by the lecturer from the Faculty of Economics and Sociology, University of Lodz, covered a substantial group of sources, especially German. These included materials from the Bundestag and the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection of the FRG, as well as the Council of Ministers of the GDR. Dr Bębnowski focused on documents from the period 1990-2015, but also on those earlier ones: from 1949-1990, the interwar period or even the 19th century. He also used statistical materials from the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy, the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Government Commissioner for the New Federated States, the Federal Statistical Office (FRG)the State Central Administration for Statistics (GDR), as well as source editions, Internet databases, reports of social and economic organisations.
To explore the topic, Dr Bębnowski drew on a wide interdisciplinary literature in the field of economics, law, history, sociology. He conducted his research during internships and research trips in American and German centres: Columbia University in New York, Harvard University in Cambridge, Justus-Liebig-Universität in Gieβen, Humboldt-Universität in Berlin This was possible thanks to the grants received as part of a specific grant for young researchers from the Faculty of Economics and Sociology, University of Lodz, the partnership programme between the University of Lodz and Giessen University as well as the PROM project of the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange. The book was published due to financial support provided by the University of Lodz.
Publication for Polish and international researchers
The publication can be purchased through the website of the Peter Lang Verlag Group.
Peter Lang Verlag is a respected foreign publisher that publishes works that correspond to the subject matter of Dr Bębnowski’s research, i.e. those in German economics, civil law, property rights, constitutional rules.
We hope that the book will be of interest not only to Polish but also to international researchers, including German ones. Indeed, it is important to understand the processes taking place in one of the strongest economies in the world, in which historical conditions of a constitutional and ownership nature have played a paramount role.
Source: Dr Damian Bębnowski
Edit: Faculty Development Centre, Faculty of Economics and Sociology, University of Lodz