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Assistance to the Transition Economies : Were There Alternatives?

Author

Listed:
  • Jan Svejnar
Abstract
Twelve years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, domestic and international analysts of the transition economies by and large agree that the transition from central planning to a market economy has been exceedingly difficult. There has also been a major debate about the extent to which the transition to date has succeeded or failed. This paper provides an assessment of the policies that were followed and discuss the extent to which there were known alternatives that can have resulted in superior outcomes in terms of: (a) gross domestic product (GDP) growth and other principal performance indicators, (b) building honest and competent institutions, and (c) creating a more transparent and less corrupt system of corporate and national governance. Section two provides a brief overview of performance since 1989. Section three presents the recommendations that were made and policies that were followed. The paper concludes in section four by assessing the extent to which alternative paths can have been followed and what the likely outcomes will have been.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Svejnar, 2002. "Assistance to the Transition Economies : Were There Alternatives?," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 20232.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbpubs:20232
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Rolando H. Castañeda, 2005. "Key Lessons Learned from the Transition to a Market Economy in Asia, Europe, and Latin America Over the Last 15 Years:Application to Cuba," Annual Proceedings, The Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, vol. 15.
    2. Pierella Paci & Erwin R. Tiongson & Mateusz Walewski & Jacek Liwinski & Maria M. Stoilkova, 2007. "Internal Labor Mobility in Central Europe and the Baltic Region," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6598.
    3. Pasquale Tridico & Maria Lissowska, 2010. "Approaches, Hopes and Reality in Transition Economies," QA - Rivista dell'Associazione Rossi-Doria, Associazione Rossi Doria, issue 4, December.
    4. Pasquale Tridico, 2013. "Values, Institutions, and Models of Institutional Change in Transition Economies," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(3), pages 6-27.
    5. Pasquale Tridico, 2012. "Varieties of Capitalism and Development in Transition Economies Since the Fall of the Berlin Wall," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(3), pages 90-128.

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