Much empirical research has highlighted the importance of institutions and initial conditions in the transition to a market economy. However, relatively little is still know about how these factors directly affect growth paths. This paper explores how institutional factors and initial conditions...

The collapse of communism in East Germany took place alongside unification with its democratic neighbour, West Germany. This made the East German experience of the ‘transition’ - from the planned to the free-market economy - unique among that of the post-socialist states. On the one hand,...

This paper compares people’s attitudes to inequality at the end of the 1990s the qualities they perceive are needed to get ahead, the role of government and rewards for employment in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Western countries. Data (from the 1999 International Social Survey...

'I giovani nelle società in trasformazione' analizza le esperienze della 'generazione della transizione', i 68 milioni di giovani tra i 15 e i 24 anni di età dell'Europa centrale e orientale e della CSI. Essendo la prima generazione a terminare gli studi, cercare lavoro e fondare una famiglia...

A growing and deepening divide has opened up between countries where economic development has “taken off” and those caught in a vicious cycle of institutional backwardness and macroeconomic instability. This “Great Divide” is visible in almost every measure of economic performance, such...

The majority of enterprises in China are controlled by local governments at the provincial, city, county, township and village levels. We study the effect of regional decentralization on soft budget constraints in these enterprises. We show that fiscal competition under (foreign) capital...