The prospect of enlarging the European Union (EU) to Central and Eastern European countries with income levels far below those of present members, questions how, and when the candidates' aspiration to converge towards EU standards of living, could possibly by fulfilled. To address these...

Starting on 1st of May 2004, 11 countries in Central-Eastern and South Eastern Europe and in the Baltics (EU11) joined the European Union in three consecutive waves. Half a generation later, and a full generation after the start of transition in the region, we thought it would be opportune to...

The paper analyzes the relation between monetary uncertainty and government incentives to implement economic reforms that reduce structural distortions and make economies more flexible. It is shown that uncertainty about the central bank's reaction function leads to more reforms. I relate this...

Potential new entrants to the European Union from Central and Eastern European countries face many challenges to achieve financial convergence with the existing EU nations. Using detailed case studies from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland and analysis of cross country...