This work suggests a development of the seminal model of transition from lan to market economy by Aghion and Blanchard (1994). We introduce an informal sector to show that its presence can generate qualitatively different steady states, to which the economy converges in the end of transition....

Transition to the market economy in ECA opened up a range of potential opportunities for young people. It has also raised a series of challenges. Youth unemployment and joblessness have emerged as serious problems with the potentially very high costs. Formal Education and Training systems have...

Transition to the market economy in ECA opened up a range of potential opportunities for young people. It has also raised a series of challenges. Youth unemployment and joblessness have emerged as serious problems with the potentially very high costs. Formal Education and Training systems have...

This paper analyzes the political economy of the reform process theoretically and empirically. Building on the framework developed by Rodrik [1995], a two-sector model of a transition economy is constructed. This model is then used to study the dynamics of political support for the reforms. The...

In this paper we quantify inequality of opportunity in labor market outcomes in Europe and Central Asia using the Human Opportunity Index (HOI) methodology. Using data from the 2006 Life in Transition Survey we also compare HOI-based measures of inequality with expenditure-based measures and...

We compare the economic growth performance of Belarus and Lithuania since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Our interest in this country pair is driven by the two countries' interwoven histories as well as by the fact that Belarus remains autocratic and strongly tied to Russia, while...

Twenty-five years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, we reflect on contemporary teaching of undergraduate comparative economic systems (CES). Using qualitative and quantitative measures, we consider how the field responded to the collapse by examining CES textbooks from the 1980s, 1990s,...

Teaching ‘Economies in Transition' as a study abroad course is the most effective way to convey the role of ideas, institutions, culture, and leadership in the transition of former communist countries. We visited four representative countries in Central and Eastern Europe: Germany, Czech...