TO CRISIS , POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AND REFORM , by Mariano Tommasi

Each successive paper by Mariano Tommasi puts an additional block in building up a coherent framework to analyze the r elationship among institutions and policy design, reform and implementation, drawing on earlier work by others in applying concepts of institutional economics (specially those associated with transaction costs) to the realms of politics. In this paper he uses this framework to provide a persuasive critique about the usual assumptions underlying the hypothesis of " crisis driven process of reform " , arguing that the broader political institutional context will determine in each case whether policy responses (and implementation) will be appropriate whether in crisis or in normal times. He then applies the framework to examine the process of policy making in Argentina during the nineties, where a period of rapid reform was followed by a boom, in which reform and policies weakened, and then by a deep crisis. His analysis show how then major vulnerabilities and deficiencies in the deeper politico-institutional setup became apparent as the economy was subject to significant external shocks.