The mix of formal and informal mechanisms for contract enforcement is examined using survey data from Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Poland, and Slovakia. Using the size of trade credit to quantify the success of contracting, we ask: Do the courts have a perceptible effect on contracting? When can a...

Is investment constrained more by insecure property rights or by limited external finance? For five transition economies in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union we find that weak property rights limit the reinvestment of profits in startup ma nufacturing firms. Access to credit does not...

The best of all possible worlds -- The key to all things -- Blurry vision -- Economism and economics -- Ideas in the world -- The magic of the marketplace -- The long march of economism -- Ideas and interests -- Pioneers -- Industrialists -- Promoters -- Politicians -- The problem with a price...