This paper analyzes the initial output decline in transition economies by estimating a cross-sectional model stressing two major factors: conflicts and the legacies of the Soviet period. We link the Soviet legacies in place at the outset of transition to the subsequent path for the development...

After a long period of steep decline which followed the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ukraine's economy rebounded in 2000, and the recovery accelerated in 2001. The paper examines the timing and the nature of the recovery from a number of different perspectives such as the presence of idle but...

Are the three Baltic countries, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, ready for accession to the European Union? Have their economies overcome the problems of transition? The answers to these questions and their implications for policy are provided in this collection of analyses. Rather than a...

The economic and financial crisis starting in 2007 revealed significant weaknesses in the resiliency of banks and other market participants to financial and economic shocks. In the context of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, which total hundreds of trillions of dollars in notional amounts,...

Macro economic development must be supported by a stable and efficient financial system. Excessive and inappropriate regulation of the financial system will restrain its functions and may lead to less than optimal resource allocation. But the transition from a highly regulated system must be...