This paper analyses the Hungarian unemployment insurance (Ul) benefit reform of 1993, which led to the creation of a less generous benefit system. We investigate a sample of unemployment spells which are drawn from the Hungarian Ul register directly before and after the reform came into force....

We use partisan and opportunistic political business cycle (“PBC”) considerations to develop a framework for explaining election-period decisions by credit rating agencies (“agencies”) publishing developing country sovereign risk-ratings (“ratings”). We test six hypotheses derived...

This paper expands on the work of Sarno and Taylor (1999) and develops three alternative models in which creditor moral hazard might occur in equity markets under different assumptions regarding the existence of asset market bubbles and implicit guarantees. Incorporating IMF-related news...

This paper examines case study evidence of large Slovak firms chosen to represent a wide range of initial conditions, privatization techniques and success with restructuring. We document the ownership changes and restructuring actions of firms. We then re-examine several hypotheses about firm...

Advocates of financial regulation, Arestis and Demetriades, argue that financial liberalisation does not impact on financial market efficiency and the allocation of investment. Results in this study find that Czech, Hungarian and Polish firms are subject to scrutiny when applying for credit. The...

During the 1980s, the restructuring of Chinese industry was driven principally by the entry of new enterprises into the enterprise system and by the restructuring of managerial incentives. In 1993, China’s leadership formally inaugurated the shareholding experiment. This paper examines the...

Dual track liberalization, relying upon the continued enforcement of existing contracts and the simultaneous creation of a free market sector, represents a powerful mechanism in economic reform. If not anticipated, the reform implements an outcome that is both Pareto improving and e±ciency...

This paper uses individual-level data to characterize economy-wide job creation and destruction during periods of massive structural adjustment. We contrast the gradualist Czech and the rapid Estonian approach to the destruction of the communist economy to provide evidence on selected...

This paper uses published case studies of firms in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland to examine how firms are reacting to the pressures of transition. Most firms made short run adjustments to output and input use; fewer firms began to make strategic adjustments. The paper examines how...