Reflecting the large initial distortions, trade, exchange rate, and energy reforms could generate large welfare gains for the Islamic Republic of Iran. If combined with direct income payments to all households (not just the poor), the poor would benefit enormously. The authors show that well...

"The paper evaluates the effects of privatization in the post-communist economies and China. In post-communist economies privatization to foreign owners results in a rapid improvement in performance of firms, while performance effects of privatization to domestic owners are less impressive and...

"The authors analyze the extent to which the EU-15 and 16 transition economies used the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) to commit to service sector policy reforms. They compare GATS commitments with the evolution of actual policy stances over time. While there is substantial...

"Major changes have occurred in the structure of former centrally planned economies, including a sharp rise in the share of services in GDP, employment, and international transactions. However, large differences exist across transition economies with respect to services intensity and services...

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