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Reflections on Transition: Twenty Years after the Fall of The Berlin Wall
Gérard Roland The above titled book, published by Palgrave Macmillan 2012, brings together contributions from a conference that took place in Helsinki...
165 UNU-WIDER articles, publications, projects, experts...
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Working Paper
European Transition at TwentyThis study gauges the status of transition in the formerly centrally planned economies of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, using a broad approach that compares countries with respect to their business environment, competition, and managerial...
Working Paper
Inequality and Transformation of Social Structures in Transitional EconomiesThe transition to a market economy in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (FSU) has been associated with greater inequality and social stratification. Living standards have fallen for the majority of people, unemployment and poverty are high...
Blog
Twenty Years After the Fall of the Berlin Wall: The Travails of East Germany’s Economic Transition
Charles S. Maier When the Berlin Wall fell, twenty years ago, on 9 November 1989, many expected that the East German (German Democratic Republic - DDR...
Working Paper
A Russian PuzzleThis paper seeks to explain, why Russian (and CIS) economic transformation was neither a shock therapy nor a gradual transition case, but instead followed a sort of middle ground inconsistent shock therapy path. It is argued that there were some...
Working Paper
Wage Reform, Soft Budget Constraints and CompetitionSince the beginning of the Chinese economic reforms in 1978, there has been a series of effort to reform the labour compensation practice in state- owned enterprises to strengthen the link between pay and productivity. Despite the reforms, however...
Working Paper
Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development in Poland after 1990The paper analyses the small- and medium-sized enterprise sector in Poland, seeking to answer the question of whether SME development along current lines is sufficient to assure the sustainable development of the Polish economy. Of the many aspects...
Working Paper
Entrepreneurship and Proprietorship in TransitionIn this paper, the role of small and medium size enterprises in the economic transformation of the countries of Central Europe is assessed. It argues that although these fulfil an important role, they are less significant as agents of macroeconomic...
Working Paper
The Evolutionary Dynamics of China's Small- and Medium- Sized enterprises in the 1990sSince 1992 a series of radical and successful reforms of their ownership and governance structures have been conducted by China's small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Innovative arrangements such as 'joint-stock co-operatives', 'joint-stock...
Working Paper
Aspects of TransitionThe six studies, selected from those contributed to the research project entitled The Integration of the New Market Economies of Europe and Asia into the World Economy: the Changing Internal and External Factors and Global Implications, open with...
Working Paper
The Transition's Mortality Crisis in East GermanySeveral studies have indicated an increase in men's mortality in East Germany between 1989 and 1991 in the wake of the reunification of 1990. For some age-groups, death rates soared by up to thirty per cent. This study investigates the evolution and...
Blog
From the Editor's Desk (June-July 2012)
Tony Addison I started writing this ‘From the Editor’s Desk’ in Accra, to the sound of an African drum band, preparing for a ceremony to mark the...
Blog
From the Editor's Desk (January 2012)
Tony Addison January saw the snow arrive in Helsinki. As I look out across the harbour, the scene is one of various shades of white and grey. The...
Blog
From The Editor's Desk (December 2012)
Tony Addison This year has rushed by at speed. For UNU-WIDER it’s been a year of big successes. We will have published some 110 working papers by the...
Blog
After the Fall of the Berlin Wall: Some Lessons on Transition
Lorraine Telfer-Taivainen The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London was the setting on 19 June 2012 for the launch of the...
Working Paper
Fundamental Economic and Social ChangeThe transition from plan to market has fundamentally transformed the social structure in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. The small Central Asian Republic of Kyrgyzstan exemplifies these changes.Using data from nationally...
Working Paper
Russian Transition - Chinese ReformsThe paper compares the Russian transition with the Chinese reforms. The concept and implications of 'transition' differ from those of 'reform'. Transition in its systemic understanding is considered as a change of the system, a shift to a new one...
Working Paper
Spontaneous Privatization in the Soviet UnionMany Soviet state enterprises are changing their legal form. Permissive but imprecise legislation, policy paralysis at all levels of government, the breakdown of the state supply system, and continued excess demand, have allowed managers of state...
Working Paper
The Polish AlternativeIn 1994-97 Poland has recorded an outstanding economic performance in terms of GDP growth, simultaneous reduction of inflation and unemployment, fiscal balance, zloty real revaluation, capacity restructuring, private sector growth and institution...
Working Paper
UzbekistanUzbekistan is typically seen as one of the slowest reformers among the countries in transition from central planning to a market-oriented economy. This paper evaluates the welfare impact of gradual transition in Uzbekistan, asking whether it has...
Working Paper
The Investment Decline in Transition EconomiesAll centrally planned economies suffered from over-investment. Due to low capital productivity, reasonable growth rates in output could be maintained only with high investment/GDP ratios. Nevertheless, the sharp reduction in investment during...
Working Paper
Globalization and Catching-up in Emerging Market EconomiesThe study discusses conditions and prospects for fast and durable growth in emerging market economies. In the course of history less than 30 nations have become rich and still more than 80 per cent of the world population lives in the middle and low...
Working Paper
The 'New Economy' and Economic Growth in Transition EconomiesThe contribution of the ‘new economy’ to economic growth in developing countries has so far been minimal. Despite the recent hype, the ‘old economy’ will for long be the fundamental force behind economic growth in transition economies. Nonetheless...
Blog
Ten Years of the Transition
by Robert J. McIntyre When the transition began in 1989 in the former Socialist economies it was widely assumed that the small enterprise sector would...
Blog
From the Editor's Desk (January 2013)
Tony Addison We start the new year at a fast pace, preparing for the ReCom results meeting on ‘Aid and the Social Sectors’ in Stockholm on 13th March...
Blog
From the Editor's Desk (April 2013)
30 April 2013 Tony Addison As April closes, our thoughts turn to UNU-WIDER’s spring/summer programme. And it’s a busy one. June sees us back in...
Blog
Varying Growth Trajectories of the West and the South: The Role of Inequality and Institutions
27 August 2014 Vladimir Popov Modern economic growth started in the West, not because of the efficiency of various capitalist institutions...
Working Paper
The Czech TransitionWe examine the case of the Czech Republic, which has been frequently cited as one of the most successful cases of transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Despite the costs related to the break-up of Czechoslovakia in late 1992 and...
Working Paper
Lessons from the Transition EconomiesWhy many transition economies succeeded by pursuing policies that are so different from the radical economic liberalization (shock therapy) that is normally credited for the economic success of central European countries? First, optimal policies are...
Book
From Shock to TherapyThe great transformation undertaken by the countries of the former communist bloc exhibits immense diversity in terms of initial conditions, shifting target models, consistency, paths, speed, progress to date, and economic performance. This is the...
Book
East-West MigrationThis sequel to Reform in Eastern Europe reports on one of the most pressing issues for countries with economies in transition and their neighbors. Focusing on the problem of East-West migration, the authors clearly delineate European free trade and...
Book
East-West MigrationThis sequel to Reform in Eastern Europe reports on one of the most pressing issues for countries with economies in transition and their neighbors. Focusing on the problem of East-West migration, the authors clearly delineate European free trade and...
Book
Post-Communist ReformIn their earlier report, Reform in Eastern Europe, the WIDER group assessed the main building blocks of a successful transition in Eastern Europe: stabilization, price liberalization, privatization, and restructuring. For the last three years this...
Book
Reform in Eastern EuropeReform in Eastern Europe provides a comprehensive, accessible statement of reform policy that stands in the mainstream of modern Western economics. Based on their experience with stabilization policies in other countries, the authors show how Eastern...
Book
Reform in Eastern Europe (paperback)Reform in Eastern Europe provides a comprehensive, accessible statement of reform policy that stands in the mainstream of modern Western economics. Based on their experience with stabilization policies in other countries, the authors show how Eastern...
Blog
Transition's Social Costs
by Vladimir Mikhalev The transition to a market economy in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (FSU) has been associated with increased...
Book Chapter
Educational Attainment, the Status of Women, and the Private School Movement in PolandPart of Book Democratic Reform and the Position of Women in Transitional Economies
Book Chapter
Gradual Economic Reform and Well-Being in UzbekistanPart of Book Poverty, Income Distribution and Well-Being in Asia during the Transition
Book
Going GlobalThe transition of the former socialist and otherwise centrally planned economies into the world trading and financial system has become a major concern to both policymakers and social scientists. In this book experts from diverse economies address...
Journal Article
Bilateral Donors' Aid Allocation DecisionsPart of Journal Special Issue Aid Allocations and Development Financing
Working Paper
Why Are the Elite in China Motivated to Promote Growth?Rapid economic development in China in the post-1978 era has been considered 'intriguing' and 'puzzling' since it occurred under the dominance of the Chinese Communist Party – the fusion of politics and economics is supposed to be a powerful...
Working Paper
The Long-Run Weight of Communism or the Weight of Long-Run History?This study provides evidence that culture understood as values and beliefs moves very slowly. Despite massive institutional change, values and beliefs in transition countries have not changed much over the last 20 years. Evidence suggests that...
Working Paper
Into the VoidTwenty years after the fall of the iron curtain—which for decades had separated East from West—most countries of Central and Eastern Europe are now members of the European Union; some have even adopted the euro. Nonetheless, these countries have also...
Working Paper
The New Grand Bourgeoisie under Post-CommunismIn the former socialist redistributive economies, the transition to market economy and the conversion to private ownership followed different trajectories. The paper offers an overview on how a new class of grand bourgeoisie was formed in three...
Working Paper
Reform and Inequality during the TransitionThis paper, using for the first time household survey data from 26 post-communist countries, covering the period 1990-2005, examines correlates of unprecedented increases in inequality registered by most of these economies. We find that, after...
Working Paper
The Travails of UnificationThe former German Democratic Republic underwent a unique post-communist transition because it was absorbed into the wealthy Federal Republic of Germany and has received massive subsidies. Nonetheless, serious difficulties have persisted, including...
Working Paper
Twenty Years Later and the Socialist Heritage is still KickingOnly recently, 20 years after transition to a market system, has Russia regained a similar production level it had achieved on the eve of transition in 1991. This may sound surprising, given its low productivity under central planning which dropped...
Working Paper
Central Asia after Two Decades of IndependenceAfter becoming independent in 1991, the five Central Asian countries pursued differing transition paths from the defunct central planning. This paper analyses the connection between economic policies and performance during the 1990s and 2000s...
Working Paper
Transition in Southeast EuropeThe paper analyses the 20-year experience with transition in the SEE countries in a comparative framework, illustrating how these countries encountered difficulties in its implementation, despite having some of the best starting conditions in 1989 to...
Working Paper
Civil Society, Institutional Change and the Politics of ReformThis paper examines the relationship between differences in civil society development under communism and the political, economic and institutional change and transformation after 1989. We collected a unique dataset on nature and intensity of...
Displaying 64 of 165 results