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Post-Communist Reform: Pain and Progress

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Author Info
Olivier Jean Blanchard () (MIT)
Maxim Boycko
Marek Dabrowski () (Center for Social and Economic Research)
Rudiger Dornbusch
Richard Layard () (London School of Economics)
Andrei Shleifer () (Harvard University)

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

In 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 group of leading economists has been heavily involved in the reform process. In this new report, they take stock, returning to the original themes and assessing progress and prospects, particularly in Russia. Stabilization in the major Central European countries was done very much by the book. Russia, in contrast, is following a path of restructuring without stabilization. The authors discuss how far this alternative strategy is likely to get. Turning to privatization, they note that initial plans started from the assumption that the state owned the assets. As slow progress of those plans has painfully shown, this was the wrong assumption. They point out that assets have in fact many de facto claimants, from managers to workers to local authorities to ministries, and discuss how the current Russian privatization program starts and builds up from this more realistic assessment. In the face of a collapse of trade in Eastern Europe, triggered by reform in Central Europe and a similar collapse between republics following the breakup of the Soviet Union, the authors show how simple measures such as a payments union can be used to increase trade and output. Post-Communist Reform concludes with a look at restructuring in Poland. The authors focus on the behavior of the state, the growth of the private sector, the role of financial systems, and the coherence of overall government policy, ending on a note of cautious optimism.

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Publisher Info
Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
This book is provided by The MIT Press in its series MIT Press Books with number 0262023628 and published in 1993.

Volume: 1
Edition: 1
ISBN: 0-262-02362-8
Handle: RePEc:mtp:titles:0262023628

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Web page: http://mitpress.mit.edu

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Related research
Keywords: poland; eastern europe; government policy; post-communism; russia;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
P4 - Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems

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  1. Lawrence King & Patrick Hamm, 2005. "Privatization and State Capacity in Postcommunist Society," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp806, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross Business School. [Downloadable!]
  2. J. David Brown & John S. Earle & Scott Gehlbach, 2008. "Helping Hand or Grabbing Hand? State Bureaucracy and Privatization Effectiveness," Staff Working Papers 08-142, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. J. David Brown & John S. Earle & Almos Telegdy, 2004. "Does Privatization Raise Productivity? Evidence from Comprehensive Panel Data on Manufacturing Firms in Hungary, Romania, Russia and Ukraine," IEHAS Discussion Papers 0425, Institute of Economics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. John Marangos, 2004. "Was Shock Therapy Consistent with Democracy?," Review of Social Economy, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 62(2), pages 221-243, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. J. David Brown & John S. Earle & Almos Telegdy, 2005. "The Productivity Effects of Privatization: Longitudinal Estimates from Hungary, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine," Staff Working Papers 05-121, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Prof. Dr. Robert Holzmann, 1994. "Funded and Private Pensions for Eastern European Countries in Transition?," Public Economics 9405004, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  7. Rosefielde, Steven, 2004. "An abnormal country," BOFIT Discussion Papers 15/2004, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition. [Downloadable!]
  8. J. David Brown & John S. Earle, 2007. "The Productivity Effects of Privatization in Ukraine: Estimates from Comprehensive Manufacturing Firm Panel Data, 1989–2005," Staff Working Papers 07-137, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Lawrence Peter King, 1999. "The Developmental Consequences of Foreign Direct Investment in the Transition from Socialism to Capitalism: The Performance of Foreign Owned Firms in Hungary," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 277, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross Business School. [Downloadable!]
  10. Brown, J. David & Earle, John S., 2006. "The microeconomics of creating productive jobs : a synthesis of firm-level studies in transition economies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3886, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  11. Lawrence P. King, 2003. "Explaining Postcommunist Economic Performance," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2003-559, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross Business School. [Downloadable!]
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