The Comparison of Technical Efficiency and Productivity Growth in Transition Countries and the Soviet Union Countries

This study compares economic performance of the 15 transition economies for two periods: The Soviet Union Countries and transition countries. These periods include data of countries for 1970-1989 and 1991-2003. It is known that centrally planned economies are criticized for widespread economic inefficiency and low total factor productivity. Thus, in order to see how the efficiency levels and productivity growth of the former Soviet Union countries have changed during the transition or market-based period, we compare two periods using Data Envelopment Analysis. The results of analysis indicate that, on average, technical efficiency has slightly increased, however, total factor productivity decreased due to technical regress over the transition period when compared to the era of Soviet Union for 15 countries.