ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the experiences of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic in regard to pension reform and the consolidation of democracy. In Poland, where the strength and influence of trade unions was highest, privatization entailed the setting aside and free transfer of a percentage of shares for existing employees and other firm insiders. The book discusses the distributional consequences of privatization in terms of how it reshaped household income and assets. It shows how the process of privatization not only created relative winners and losers in terms of income changes, but in doing so, also shaped attitudes and preferences over pension reform alternatives. The book describes the distributional consequences of privatization in terms of how it reshaped household income and assets.
