ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a conceptual framework attuned to the Bulgarian case during early transition and outlines the empirical strategy. One important point is that the economic environment within which Bulgarian managers and firms have functioned during early transition has been quite unstable and volatile, probably more so than that which has confronted managers in the Visegrad countries. Some indicators suggest a degree of rigidity in institutional evolution in Bulgaria, and an unusually slow rate at least when compared with changes in firms in Visegrad transition economies. The evaluation of firm adjustment and behavior during transition is important as it may shed light on diverse hypotheses including both the microeconomics of behavioral change during transition and also whether changes in macroeconomic policies are accompanied by microeconomic changes. When economic agents have had scope for discretionary change, it is clear that their receptiveness to change has been quite varied.
