Public Support for Economic Reforms in Poland

Abstract

Using monthly surveys, the author examines the impact of aggregate economic conditions on the dynamic of support for the Polish program of economic reforms, the Balcerowicz Plan. To highlight the ambiguity of the standard retrospective model, the author analyzes the impact of subjective perceptions of economic conditions on postures toward the reform program, asking if people were extrapolating the past when forming predictions about the future. Then the effect of these predictions on the postures toward reform is studied. Finally, the author focuses on the distributional effects. Substantive conclusions concerning the impact of economic conditions on the support of economic reform programs under democracy close the article.