Transition: Intended and Unintended Processes

An analysis of the relationship between transition as that was intended by the international financial institutions and transition as it actually happened. Attention is paid to what has been learned by experience about stabilisation, liberalisation and privatisation. Attention is also given to the unintended processes of contraction, impoverishment, informalisation, increased corruption, demographic changes, criminalisation, capital flight, polarisation and diversity. Consideration is given not just to macroeconomic phenomena but also to sectors such as agriculture, medical care and pensions. Lessons are drawn for economic policy and for economic doctrines. Comparative Economic Studies (2005) 47, 595–614. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ces.8100128