Title The economic growth performance of Lithuania during the Great Depression in the 1930s in the regional cross-country comparison
Translation of Title Wyniki wzrostu gospodarczego Litwy w okresie wielkiego kryzysu w latach 30. XX wieku w regionalnym porównaniu międzynarodowym.
Authors Norkus, Zenonas ; Ambrulevičiūtė, Aelita
DOI 10.15584/978-83-8277-266-1
ISBN 9788382772586
eISBN 9788382772661
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Is Part of Selected aspects of modernization in CEE Region / ed. by Paweł Grata, Jarosław Kinal.. Rzeszów : Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego, 2025. p. 71-88.. ISBN 9788382772586. eISBN 9788382772661
Keywords [eng] Great Depression (1929–1933) ; Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ; Baltic countries ; Finland ; Poland ; economic growth of interwar Lithuania
Abstract [eng] This contribution presents new findings of the research on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Baltic countries in the interwar period, which allows for the first time to compare the impact of the Great Depression in the 1930s on the output of Baltic economies (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) and neighbor countries with similar historical legacies (being parts of the Russian empire), structures of economy and level of development (Finland and Poland). For the last two countries, data from the Maddison Project Database are used, where GDP data on Poland are available only for 1929–1938. So, according to our data, among the five countries under comparison, real GDP per capita contracted most in Poland, decreasing in 1932 to 78.3% of the 1929 level and recovering to this level only in 1938. Latvia was next by recession depth, followed by Estonia and Finland. Surprisingly, there was no real output contraction in Lithuania despite the deflation which was as deep as in Poland. Zooming in on Lithuania‘s case, we advance several hypotheses (to be tested in further research) to explain this deviant case: 1) there was no economic boom in Lithuania before the GD; 2) Lithuanian economy was most closed (controlling for size); 3) in 1930–1932 Lithuanian economy implemented a mini-industrialization program, conducting anticyclical policies.
Published Rzeszów : Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego, 2025
Type Book part
Language English
Publication date 2025
CC license CC license description