ABSTRACT
Transition from central planning to a market economy, involving large-scale institutional change and reforms at all levels, is often described as the greatest social science experiment in modern times. As more than two decades have passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, it is now an excellent time to take stock of how the transition process has turned out for the economies that have moved on from socialism and the command economy.
This new handbook assembles a team of leading experts, many of whom were closely involved in the transition process as policymakers and policy advisors, to explore the major themes that have characterized the transition process. After identifying the nature of initial conditions and the strengths and weaknesses of institutions, the varying paths and reforms countries have taken are fully analyzed – from the shock therapy, privatization or gradualism of the early years to the burning issues of the present including global integration and sustainable growth.
Topics covered include the socialist system pre-transition, economic reforms, institutions, the political economy of transition, performance and growth, enterprise restructuring, and people and transition. The country coverage is also extensive, from the former socialist countries of the USSR and the satellite states of Central and Eastern Europe to the Asian countries of China, Vietnam and others. The rise of China as a key actor in the drama is chronicled, along with the emergence of a new, more confident, oil-rich Russia. The comparative prosperity of the Central European countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic is contrasted with the mixed fortunes of the former USSR, where some countries are stagnating while others boom.
This Handbook of the Economics and Political Economy of Transition is the definitive guide to this new order of things in the former Communist world.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
chapter |14 pages
Introduction to the Handbook
part |2 pages
PART I Introduction
chapter |17 pages
Transition economies: the first two decades
chapter |12 pages
Institutions in transition
chapter |13 pages
Did we go about transition in the right way?
chapter |16 pages
Is the transition over? A definition and some measurements
part |2 pages
PART II Background
chapter |11 pages
Central planning in the Soviet system
chapter |10 pages
From USSR to Russia: the fate of the military economy
chapter |9 pages
Why did transition happen?
part |2 pages
PART III Beginnings
chapter |12 pages
Transformational recession
chapter |7 pages
Privatization
chapter |10 pages
Theories and models of economic transition
part |2 pages
PART IV Integration
chapter |14 pages
Trade reorientation and global integration
chapter |8 pages
Enlargement of the European Union
chapter |9 pages
EU accession as an instrument for speeding up transition
part |2 pages
PART V Political economy
chapter |8 pages
Corruption in the post-communist transition
chapter |11 pages
Bulgaria and political economy of transition
chapter |19 pages
Towards a new growth model in Eastern Europe
part |2 pages
PART VI Firms
chapter |9 pages
Trade and firms in transition
chapter |12 pages
Pyramid state ownership and control in the Czech Republic
chapter |15 pages
The business environment in the transition
part |2 pages
PART VII People
chapter |8 pages
People and transition: Life in Transition Survey
chapter |14 pages
The status of women during the early transition process
chapter |15 pages
The rural economy and households in China and Russia: a comparison
part |2 pages
PART VIII Country studies
chapter |11 pages
Why has Serbia not been a frontrunner?
chapter |11 pages
Russia since transition
chapter |13 pages
Resource-rich transition economies
part |2 pages
PART IX Assessment