摘要：Informal institutions such as culture, trust, social relations, norms or values have a strong effect on
countries’ development patterns, their role being enhanced in those states where formal institutions
are poorly regulated. Therefore, in order to foster economic development, institutional change
remains one of the core issues, and differs depending on the levels of social analysis. The current
paper aims at outlining a general perspective regarding the relation between institutional efficiency
and economic development within the European Union, with a specific focus on the Eastern member
states. These have similar development patterns and structural challenges, considering their shared
communist past and inheritance which have left strong imprints on Eastern European societies and
welfare. Overall, the paper argues that institutional efficiency is closely linked to the countries’ levels
of prosperity, and consequently, to the manner in which their governments pay attention on
development policies, especially in those states that are economically and spatially more peripheral.
关键词：formal and informal institutions; economic freedom; development; European Union
