This contribution is one of the lead articles to the forthcoming Handbook of Political, Social, and Economic Transformation. It discusses the main contributions from the New Institutional Economics to transformation research but also identifies a number of research gaps

The main theme of this study is the political economy of policy reform in less developed countries and post-socialist countries. Given the complexity of economic development and transition, Joachim Ahrens views failures in policy reform, poor public sector management, rent-seeking, corruption,...