In the early stages of post-Soviet Russia's economic transition, small-scale entrepreneurial activity appeared to be a strong engine of growth. Moreover, striking regional variations in initial conditions and adopted policy reforms appeared useful in accounting statistically for observed...

We seek to quantify the success of Russia's attempt to achieve price-liberalization initiatives as part of the reforms established under the Big Bang of January 1992. We do so by studying the time-series behavior of commodity prices between 1992-1995 and focusing on the relationship between the...

China began its gradual economic reform in the late 1970s; Russia initiated radical reform in the early 1990s. During the course of reform, China has enjoyed rapid growth while Russia has contracted. This paper argues that one reason for this difference is that Chinese local governments enjoy...

How fast transition should occur and how fast privatization and/or entry should take place in formerly socialist economies has been widely debated by economists. The field evidence on start-ups is mixed, with fragmentary data indicating that the performance of start-ups varies widely across...

In pursuit of its transition from a command to a market economy, Russia has witnessed enormous regional differences in economic growth rates. Moreover, the implementation of economic reforms has also differed markedly across regions. We analyze whether regional differences in reform policies can...