This study combines qualitative and quantitative procedures  in order to make possible a Most Different Systems Design (MDSD) analysis which systematically compares two countries in order to identify factors which play a role in coup d’état occurrences after the Cold War. By developing a systems framework that lays the ground for subsequent analysis, an encompassing view of the potential underlying conditions of the coup occurrence are taken into account. This systems framework is subsequently operationalized for a sample of 35 countries which all experienced coup d’état between 1990 and 2010. In order to use MDSD, the most different countries are identified using Boolean distances. Ethiopia and Honduras were found to be the most different and were compared and contrasted according to the systems framework. The study concludes that for coup occurrences in Honduras and Ethiopia, the lack of an external national threat, secularizing tendencies, and past coup occurrences played a major role.  Democratizing tendencies after the coups in both countries were a vital signal that the influence of global democratic norms does create incentives for countries to hold elections after a coup. Interestingly, the political system of the country and demographic factors such as ethnicity, religion and language did not appear as important for the coup outcome in these countries.

Throughout the latter half of the 20^th century, many developing economies adopted a set of economic policies in order to transition to market economy. Reforms were introduced either simultaneously or gradually, fuelling the debate over whether the so-called shock-therapy reforms were more beneficial or less beneficial to growth than gradual reforms. This study focuses on the role of the mode of transition in determining the effectiveness of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). FDI is valuable for development in transition economies since it has often been a main source of investment for these types of economies. An empirical analysis was conducted using sixty transitioning countries, examining the growth up to sixteen years after the initial reform. The results indicate that there is some evidence of a difference in the effects of FDI inflows on GDP growth between the shock-therapy and gradual reformers.