After the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, more than a dozen countries undertook aggressive privatization programs. Proponents of economic reform championed such large-scale efforts as the fastest, most reliable way to make the transition from a state-run to a...

Introduction : agriculture and the state -- State interventions in rural social policy during the Soviet period -- Reform of the collective agricultural sector -- Financial levers and the end of the social contract -- Land reform and the development of private farming -- Financial levers and the...