ABSTRACT

This interdisciplinary study offers a comprehensive analysis of the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Providing full historical context and drawing on a wide range of literature, this book explores the continuous economic and social transformation of the post-socialist world. While the future is yet to be determined, understanding the present phase of transformation is critical. 

The book’s core exploration evolves along three pivots of competitive economic structure, institutional change, and social welfare. The main elements include analysis of the emergence of the socialist economic model; its adaptations through the twentieth century; discussion of the 1990s market transition reforms; post-2008 crisis development; and the social and economic diversity in the region today. With an appreciation for country specifics, the book also considers the urgent problems of social policy, poverty, income inequality, and labor migration. 

Transition Economies will aid students, researchers and policy makers working on the problems of comparative economics, economic development, economic history, economic systems transition, international political economy, as well as specialists in post-Soviet and Central and Eastern European regional studies.

part I|33 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|12 pages

The great unknowns

Post-socialist economies and societies in motion

chapter 2|19 pages

Transition vs. transformation

What is clear and not so clear about transition economics

part II|54 pages

The planned economy

chapter 3|16 pages

The economic and social context at the turn of the twentieth century

From the Russian Empire to the Soviet Union

chapter 5|17 pages

From war to wall to common market

The dialectics of the Eastern European socialist economy

part III|70 pages

The economics of the market reform

chapter 7|37 pages

Free market reform

Liberalization, privatization, shock therapy, and policy misfortunes

part IV|28 pages

The human transition

part V|63 pages

The roaring 2000s and the present

chapter 9|42 pages

Contours of the new era post-transition economy

They are all different

chapter 10|19 pages

Facing the present by knowing the past