ABSTRACT
Privatization of property rights and transformation of the production organization have been two key decisions in the agrarian reform process for all Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs). An important effect of privatization and reallocation of property rights and decollectivization is the induced change in the distribution of income, wealth, and political influence in CEECs. The study of the political economy of price and trade policies has learned that a trade-off between income distributional effects and economic efficiency is likely to affect decisionmaking about economic policies. There are two interpretations of Communism’s role in the present ethnic conflicts in the CEECs and former Soviet Union. The first suggests that ethnic nationalism was suppressed or ‘frozen’ by Communist regimes and has simply become visible again with freedom of expression. The second argument is that Communism not only contributed to the maintenance of ethnic claims but might be held responsible for the promotion, persistence, and virulence of new movements.
