The politico-economic relations between the European Union (EU) and Eastern Europe are currently entering a new phase, which some scholars qualify as a revival of the Cold War. This insightful book seeks to explain whether and why a Cold War Europe has returned and discusses underlying factors that clarify the relations between East and West since the Second World War. Nienke de Deugd and Herman W. Hoen comprehensively address the problematic process of EU integration, discussing crucial political, economic and security-related developments during and after the Cold War. De Deugd and Hoen draw attention to the path-dependent nature of European market reform and the processes of democratization in Eastern Europe as key factors in complicating post-communist transformation. Considering the alternating historical developments between rapprochement and estrangement, they illustrate underlying irreconcilable political-economic systems that have disrupted relations between the EU and Eastern Europe. This book is a crucial read for students of political science and international relations, particularly those focused on post-communist transformation looking for a wide-ranging overview of the dynamics of transformation and integration in post-Cold War Europe.

The implementation of a democratic order embedded in a market economy environment has proved immensely difficult. Furthermore, this process is subject to tremendous variety within Central and Eastern Europe. Ten years after the collapse of communism it was apparent that only Poland and Slovenia surpassed their 1989 levels of GDP. This book scrutinises the arrangements to enforce good governance in this area both by means of external help and domestic political leadership. From the popular assumption that transformation is a collective good, it follows that the problem of free-riding has to be faced. Consequently there is a danger that transformation may never be completed. This book empirically tests the relationship between economic performance and good governance focusing upon voluntary coercion as a means to prevent free-riding behaviour. The author examines the role of international organisations and discusses elite formation as an important element of good governance - something often ignored in the economic analysis of economic performance. Scholars and researchers of political and economic transformation in Central and Eastern Europe as well as those from the fields of political economy, international relations and political science will find this book enlightening.

The countries of Central Asia are increasingly the focus of intense international attention due to their geopolitical and economic importance as well as their unsettled transition processes. The region faced enormous challenges when the Soviet Union disintegrated, and this book focuses on the reforms of the institutional environment that have been largely neglected. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the book explores key aspects of institution building as well as economic and political governance in Central Asia. Contributors from a variety of disciplines, such as economics, political economy, political science, sociology, law, and ethnology, investigate the challenges of institutional transition in a non-democratic region. The book discusses how the lack of effective institution building as well as rule enforcement in the economic and political realms represents one of the key weaknesses and drawbacks of transition, and goes on to look at how crafting market institutions will be of utmost importance in the years ahead. Making an important contribution to understanding of political-economic developments in Central Asia, this book is of interest to students and scholars of political economy, comparative economics, development studies and Central Asian studies.

The countries of Central Asia are increasingly the focus of intense international attention because of their geopolitical and economic importance as well as their unsettled transition processes. The region faced enormous challenges when the Soviet Union disintegrated. Overall, it has made rudimentary progress in opening up to the international community, creating market institutions, and building more inclusive, democratic political processes. Daunting challenges remain - reflected in the region's relatively low economic and human development indicators. In particular, reforms of the institutional environment have been largely neglected. It is evident that the lack of effective institution building as well as rule enforcement in the economic and political realms represents one of the key weaknesses and drawbacks of transition. Hence, crafting adequate market institutions will be of utmost importance in the years ahead. This book explores key aspects of institution building as well as economic and political governance in Central Asia through an interdisciplinary approach. Contributors from different disciplines such as economics, political economy, political science, sociology, law, and ethnology investigates the challenges of institutional transition in a non-democratic region. Making an important contribution to understanding of political-economic developments in Central Asia, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of political economy, comparative economics, development studies and Central Asian studies.

This book investigates the institutional underpinnings of the relatively strong economic performance in Central Asian countries since their independence. The New Institutional Economics as well as Political Economy approaches provide the conceptual framework for case studies. All contributions consider factor markets and institutions as fundamental drivers of economic growth. This volume scrutinizes the evolution, design, and performance of factor markets in the region including land and natural resources, labor, physical and human capital.

This important, original book focuses on the transformation of economic systems in Central Europe. It provides a comprehensive overview of different theoretical approaches to transformation - neoclassical, post Keynesian and Austrian. In the light of this theoretical discussion, it reconsiders the transformation policies applied in the Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary and Poland.Dr Hoen challenges the dichotomous 'shock-versus-gradualism' dispute, which he believes blurs the key elements of the transformation from a centrally planned to a market economy. He also maintains that the labels generally attached to the transformation strategies in Central Europe are inappropriate and misleading. Hungary's transformation to a market economy, for example, is to be qualified as a 'hidden shock' rather than as an example of 'gradualism'. This up-to-date new book, which theoretically explains the diverging paths of transformation in Central Europe will be of interest to researchers, students, policymakers and all those concerned with European integration and international relations.

This is the first book to specify the type of economic system that has arisen in Central Asia, replacing the simplistic ideas of 'petro-state' or 'resource dependent.'The book presents three types of state capitalism now established in the former Soviet Union states of Eurasia - crony, dual-sector, and predatory capitalism. It provides first-hand research based on extensive interviewing in the native languages in five of the six. From the political economic perspective, it surveys the source of resources for these authoritarian regimes, their decision-making, and the disposition of government funds, including corruption.