"The author analyzes regional labor market disparities in transition by presenting some data and summarizing existing literature. He finds that large and persistent regional labor market disparities developed in virtually all transition countries and that there is some evidence of polarization....

"The paper reviews labor market developments in the transition economies of Europe and Central Asia. It argues that the scarcity of productive job opportunities and the growing labor market segmentation are the two main labor market problems facing the transition economies. In the European...

Transition was never going to be easy, even with the highly promising long-run outlook. Not only was the process itself a major theoretical and policy challenge, but politics and economics were bound to interfere. And yet, with some spectacular exceptions, most countries are now on the right track