ABSTRACT
The energy exporting countries of the Caspian Basin were among those countries which suffered the most severe fall in output during the transition from central planning. At the same time they tended to rank well below average in the degree to which they pursued economic reform, as measured, for example by the EBRD transition indicators. Since the late 1990s, however, they have enjoyed some of the highest output growth rates in the world – this is especially true of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and (albeit discounting the offi cial data) Turkmenistan, and to a lesser extent Russia and Uzbekistan. This book addresses the question of whether the oil boom-driven growth is sustainable and can provide a platform for long-term economic development, or whether the Caspian Basin countries will be blighted by the resource curse.
