This study analyzes trade specialization patterns in the enlarged European Union with a special focus on the new EU member states and the cohesion countries. Empirical findings on revealed comparative advantage and a broader picture of competitiveness on the single market are presented from a...

1. Introduction: The journey begins -- 2. Central and Eastern Europe: A brief history of trade between 1945-1989 -- 3. The Fall of the “Iron Curtain”: Can the Central and East European Countries (CEECs) Face the Challenge of Trade-Restructuring and Integration? -- 4. CEECs and EU in Trade...

This book, a third edition, has been significantly expanded and updated. It revisits the process of institutional change: its characteristics, determinants and implications for economic performance. New chapters address the significance of Post-Communist transition, the differences and...

This significantly expanded and updated edition revisits the process of institutional change: its characteristics, determinants and implications for economic performance. New chapters address the significance of Post-Communist transition; the differences and importance of initial conditions in...

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 others are still struggling to shed the inheritance of the past and to correct more recent policy mistakes. Why were...

At the beginning of the transition process, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe faced the task of creating a functioning financial system where none had existed before. A decade later, high-level practitioners and well-known experts take stock of banking and monetary policy in the...

The current destination of Central and Eastern European countries—explicitly for some, implicitly for all—is Brussels. The concept of the distance from Brussels is multi-dimensional. One simple measure, not without theoretical and empirical justification, is physical distance. This paper’s...

A consistent set of disaggregated industrial output data for four Eastern European countries is examined In order to determine the extent to which structural adjustment has taken place since the initiation of market-oriented reform. The latter created a massive relative price shock whose affects...