Industrial Restructuring and the Reorientation of Trade in Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland

The paper discusses the long-run pattern of growth that characterized Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland over the 1970s and 1980s and also shows the immediate impact of the dramatic developments of the last year and a half upon industrial production, investment and employment including compositional features. It carries out an analysis of the pattern and degree of structural change that has taken place in these economies since 1966 and compares these with a number of West European countries. Indicators of structural shifts reveal the impacts of external and internal shocks upon structural adjustments in the different economies. The paper also reports research on the details of product composition that characterize the trade links of these economies with the European Community. The analysis shows not only significant gaps in a number of quality measures of trade performance between East and West, but also differences between Hungary and the other two economies.