Subject and purpose of the book is the investigation of economic policy issues with the help of non-cooperative game theory.
The most important feature of our work is to look at the possible strategic interactions between various economic agents and/or institutions. We are also investigating the potential effects on efficiency and welfare if agents act in a strategic way. The method of non-cooperative game theory leads in general to results which differ from that derived in using "traditional" economic theory.

The disappearance of central planned economies left politicians, researchers, consultants, and academics with an interest in economies in transition in vagueness about the actual state of the economy and its short and medium term prospects. This volume provides the reader with information on how to deal with the statistical shortcomings of economies in transition. Most economic variables published for these countries tend to encompass a short period of time or they possess a low measurement quality. Moreover, most of the series are subject to structural breaks, due to the change in the patterns of economic reactions over time. The contributions in this volume show various ways to solve or at least to lessen the before mentioned problems.

Die wirtschaftliche Sonderentwicklung OEsterreichs bis zu Beginn der achtziger Jahre erregte mehr Aufsehen, als es dem kleinen Anteil am weltweiten Wirtschaftsgeschehen entsprochen hatte. Die UEberwindung der Inflation ohne nennenswerten Anstieg in der Arbeitslosenrate, die rasche Beseitigung von Leistungsbilanzproblemen und ein uberdurchschnittliches Wachstum wurden einerseits mit den durch die Sozialpartnerschaft zusammenhangenden stabilen Rahmenbedingungen und andererseits mit einem speziellen "policy-mix" in Zusammenhang gebracht. Gegen Ende dieser Periode erhielt diese Kombination auch ihren Namen: Austro-Keynesianismus. Hans Seidel spielte in diesem Zusammenhang eine typisch oesterreichische Rolle. In verschiedenen Funktionen ubernahm er Aufgaben und Positionen, die er in meisterhafter Weise persoenlich integrieren konnte. In der akademischen Diskussion pragte er den Begriff des Austro-Keynesianismus. In diesem Band sind Beitrage oesterreichischer Autoren (Helmut Kramer, Stephan Koren, Herbert Ostleitner, Karl Socher, Erich Streissler, Gunther Tichy) enthalten, die sich sowohl mit den Beitragen von Hans Seidel, als auch der inhaltlichen Interpretation des Austro-Keynesianismus auseinandersetzen.

Historically, enterprises were an important delivery vehicle for the administration and financing of many programmes of social protection in the economies of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In most cases this was through systems mandated by the state. When the Central and East European countries (CEECs) began their reforms many expected enterprises to quickly eliminate the benefits they had provided to workers once freed from the encumbrance of state control. This volume, originally published in 1997, investigates the size of these benefits and the forces producing changes in them. Each chapter covers a specific country, exploring the scope, scale and change of benefits in the respective countries,and investigates their determinants. Surprisingly, they find only modest declines and even some increases in aggregate benefits, rather than rapid change. Change is more visible in the details. This volume examines social functions, like early retirement, in both established and newly privatized enterprises.