UCL Discovery

Abstract

Fifteen years ago, twenty-seven countries in Europe and Central Asia embarked on their economic transition paths. For some, the outcome was a considerable success. Several other are still struggling to shed the inheritance of the past and to correct more recent policy mistakes. Why were post-Communist recessions so long in some countries and growth disappointing? Why was fiscal performance so different? Was democracy a factor, which facilitated reforms or rather slowed them down? The book discusses these questions in the context of new empirical evidence, including a critical examination of the main themes in the economics of transition literature. The arguments are presented in accessible format, and the stress is on narrative discussion, without compromising the main theoretical insights.