AN INSTITUTIONAL APPROACH TO ANALYZING TH E ECONOMIC TRANSITION (THE CASE OF AGRICULTURE IN NORTH KAZAKSTAN)

The causes of the failure of the neoclassical approach to the economic transition in the countries formerly belonging to the Soviet Union ar e analyzed at a general level and then in the specific case of agricul ture in North Kazakhstan. Three dimensions of Soviet-type economic ins titutions (legislation, organizations and culture) enter into the gene ral analysis. Among the basic notions that are cursorily presented, at tention is drawn to the economic culture. A description of the charact eristics of Soviet agricultural institutions (state-owned land, collec tive farms, state farms, individual plots and local authorities in rur al areas) completes this analysis at the general level. These paradigm s then serve to analyze the first two phases (stabilization and introd uction of the market) in the neoclassical transition strategy as appli ed to farming in North Kazakhstan. In this area, the institutions inhe rited from the Soviet era continue to survive, sometimes under a sligh tly disguised form. They account for both the noncompletion of a real transition and the gradual decline in farming. In these conditions, th e third phase (structural corrections) of the transition under the neo classical paradigm cannot be envisioned. Alternative proposals based o n an institutional approach are presented.