European Economic Interaction and Integration Workshop Papers – serie

In this volume the perceptive reader will find many clues to the future of the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, East-West economic relations and the impact of governments in this area. The authors are aware of the mistakes of the past, the limitations of centralized planning, the dangers and the futility of confrontation; and the global significance of the new roles that governments must play in the transitional period of political and economic reform in the East.

Highlighting recent revolutionary changes, this volume deals with the transformation from central planning towards more efficient economic structures in Eastern and Central Europe and the (former) Soviet Union. Political democracy and the creation of market economies have now become realistic aims; but the process of reform is only just beginning and is likely to take many years. The papers and discussion in this book deal with systematic changes, deregulation, abolition of price controls and macroeconomic fiscal and monetary policies needed to stablize the economies and to implement appropriate structural changes.

Part of the "European Economic Interaction and Integration Workshop Papers" series, this book examines the role of competition in economic transition and integration, looking at examples in history such as Japan's postwar industrial policy and Czechoslovakia's competition policies. So far, in the countries of Central and East Europe, and of the former USSR, privatization of state enterprises has failed to bring about a more responsive, more competitive behaviour of these firms. It is recognized that various elements of competition - privatization, breaking down of monopolies, trade liberalization, strengthening of small- and medium-sized competitors, and institutional requirements - should be implemented simultaneously.

In this volume practitioners and theorists from East and West assess the results of four years of transformation in Eastern Europe.