Roadblocks to the Socialist Modernization Path and Transition : Evidence from East Germany and Poland

1. Introduction -- 2. From East to West: Modernization efforts in the northern and western regions of Poland (1944-1989) -- 3. The importance of technical progress for economic growth in the GDR -- 4. Inefficiency and intransparency in East German foreign trade -- 5. Historical Legacies of Regional Innovation Activity -- 6. Catching-up modernization: Synthetic fibre in the GDR and Poland -- 7. The re-allocation of entrepreneurial talent over the course of radical institutional change – an institutional perspective -- 8. When backwardness became an advantage: Stays abroad as birth assist in Polish transformation -- 9. Transfer of knowledge from the outside or self-learning? Key success criteria for setting-up enterprises in East Germany and Poland after 1989 -- 10. GDR’s researchers catching up on their inclusion in international scientific communities -- 11. After 1989: Socialist elites and post-socialist transformations.