This book identifies differences and similarities between the formerly centrally planned economies of the Eastern Bloc and those of Western Europe. The authors use up-to-date information on East-West trade flows to analyse emerging patterns of industrial and trade specialisation. They examine in detail the pre- and post-1989 experience of five different CEE economies: the ex-GDR, ex-CSFR, Hungary, Bulgaria and Poland. Enterprise-level information is then used to discuss the impact of the withdrawal of export subsidies from various types of enterprise in Hungary, the changing relationships between enterprises and banks in Poland, the evolution and reform of financial institutions and the vital issue of financial intermediation and industrial restructuring. The book ends with an examination of the case for using Western-style industrial policies in the transition.
