Contagion from East Asia imposed a severe "stress test" on the market-oriented reforms of transition economies. We find that the portfolio reallocations of investors differentiated sharply among these economies at the height of the East Asian turmoil, appearing clearly in the relative movements...

The contagion effects emanating from the recent East Asian turmoil provide an interesting test of the strength of the foundations for macroeconomic and financial stability laid by the post-communist transition and how this strength varies across central and eastern Europe and the CIS. The...

• Sound national systems of corporate governance are essential for all countries, including the poorest, to reap the benefits of globalisation. • “Corporate governance” comprises the institutions that govern the relationship between people who manage corporations and all others who...

• Des systèmes sains de gouvernance des entreprises sont d’une importance cruciale dans tous les pays, y compris les plus pauvres, pour pouvoir tirer parti de la mondialisation. • La « gouvernance d’entreprise » englobe les institutions qui régissent les relations entre ceux qui...

This paper examines the performance of 515 banks in 16 transition economies for the years 1994 – 99 based on their public financial accounts. We first examine lending behaviour and probability distribution of bank profitability to determine whether these banks exhibit behaviour and performance...

This paper uses a survey of 3,300 firms in 25 transition countries to shed light on the factors that influence restructuring by firms and their subsequent performance as measured by growth in sales and in sales per employee over a three-year period. We begin by surveying what a decade of...

This article shows (1) how entry and exit of firms in a competitive industry affect the valuation of securities and optimal capital structure, and (2) how, given a trade-off between tax advantages and agency costs, a firm will optimally adjust its leverage level after it is set up. We derive...

This paper uses a survey of 3,300 firms in 25 transition countries to shed light on the factors that influence restructuring by firms and their subsequent performance as measured by growth in sales and in sales per employee over a three-year period. We begin by surveying what a decade of...

This paper reports the findings of a survey of more than 3,000 firms in 20 transition countries. It shows that barter and other non-monetary transactions (including the use of bills of exchange, debt swaps, barter chains, and the redemption of debt in goods) are an important phenomenon in Russia...