This paper addresses whether neoclassical economics can provide the intellectual underpinning for a theory of reform. I examine whether the neoclassical model satisfies an essential condition to qualify for this role: does it give us a satisfactory explanation for the vast differences in...

As the opening contribution to a four-page symposium, this paper provides an overview of the economic transformation in reforming countries of eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, describing reforms, their consequences, and lessons economists might derive from transition. The topics...

This symposium examines the economic problems facing the reforming countries of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the interrelationships between these problems, and current knowledge on how to deal with them. The word "reform" is surely a misnomer for what is occurring; "revolution" is more...