The aim of this book is to analyse specific sets of macro and structural policies in selected Eastern European countries. The book includes studies on the major Western CIS countries, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, plus a set of cross-country and regional studies. The analysis in this book contributes importantly to the discussion about the economic prospects of the CIS countries.
This useful volume features surveys of 10 of the 12 members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the successor organisation to the USSR. . . I heartily recommend this book for all economists interested in the economic transition of the CIS. Roy Gardner, Comparative Economic Studies The country studies (and the editors introduction) contain a wealth of statistical information that will be appreciated by many readers. . . Those interested in a broad overview will focus on the introduction and the conclusion, where the editors offer their synthesis of the ten country studies. This synthesis in itself is an important achievement that summarizes the wealth of country findings in a compact and easily readable format. Those who need more detail will greatly benefit from the in-depth treatment of the ten countries in the core chapters. The high level of scholarship of this volume ensures its usefulness, not only to academics and researchers specializing in transition, but also to development and comparative economists working on issues of economic growth. The specific country studies will be of value to economists assigned to the region by international organizations or to local economists interested to have a western perspective on developments in their countries. In summary, this is an important addition to the literature that summarizes the record of transition during the decade of the 1990s. Zvi Lerman, Slavic Review [This] book is to be commended for several reasons. First of all, it makes predominantly native research available to English speakers. Secondly, it has managed to provide separate chapters for as many as ten of the twelve members of the Commonwealth of Independent States and has not allowed its treatment of Russia to dominate the discussion. Thirdly, its approach to the theme of economic prospects is both country-oriented and comparative. And finally, it fulfills its remit in considering the future as well as the present. W.V. Wallace, Slavonic and East European Review Professors Gur Ofer and Richard Pomfret have created a volume in which timely and lucid combination of analyses, extensive information and clear-cut knowledge of what went wide of the mark during the 1990s in the Soviet bloc are all well presented. They offer economic and institutional analyses to help understand alternative routes to economic growth in the CIS. Bruno S. Sergi, Economics of Transition This first comprehensive application of the new growth accounting to systemic transition in ten ex-Soviet republics puts weak governance public and corporate and capital paucity as the key retardants to market-led dynamism today. The country-specific analyses, embedded in a rich description of resource, demographic and political environments, shows that these economies, as yet little touched by globalisation, need to build institutions qualitatively attractive to FDI and to technology transfer if their catch-up rate is to satisfy the aspirations of their still poverty-racked peoples. Michael Kaser, St Antony s College, Oxford, UK This book brings together ten original studies on the transition and growth experience and the foundations for long-term growth of the newly independent states created by the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Beginning with an overview of the common pre-1992 background and comparative information on the post-1992 performance of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, the authors continue by reviewing the Soviet background and post-independence experience. They then emphasise both the uniformity and diversity of the twelve CIS countries recent history. The problem of explaining economic growth in transition economies is also explored, and individual in-depth country studies are presented. The contributors to the book are a combination of in-country researchers with in-depth local knowledge and access to data, and international economists with technical expertise and experience of long-ter
The year 2016 marks the 25th anniversary of the official inauguration of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a free association of sovereign states comprised by Russia and 11 other republics that were formerly part of the Soviet Union. Although this loose association of states may not exist as a fixed-entity on the globe, it is believed that this bloc of countries will continue to build upon the various separate regions in the former Soviet space in the coming decade. This book provides a regional analysis and a country scan of the CIS regional block economies. It examines its history since the breakup of the formal Soviet Union and the formation of the CIS bloc, including creation of regional agreements such as the CIS Free Trade Area and the Eurasian Economic Union, which now represents more than 180 million people. As a whole, our text attempts to better understand current, and future, prospects for economic growth in the region, as well as their individual national challenges.
We test the extent to which growth in the 11 CIS countries (excluding Russia) was associated with developments in Russia, overall, as well as through the trade, financial and remittance channels over the last decade or so. The results point to the continued existence of economic links between the CIS countries and Russia, though these links may have altered since the 1998 crisis. Russia appears to influence regional growth mainly through the remittance channel and somewhat less so through the financial channel. There is a shrinking role of the trade (exports to Russia) channel. Russian growth shocks are associated with sizable effects on Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and, to some extent, Georgia.
Russia is now once again one of the ten largest economies in the world (representing around 70% of Germany's GDP in purchasing power parity in 2007). In addition, Russia is the third largest trading partner of the EU, the fourth largest trade partner of the eurozone and an essential energy supplier to the EU. This recovery makes Russia an economic - and political - actor that cannot be ignored. In this authoritative new book, Lúcio Vinhas de Souza, desk officer for Russia in the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission, reviews the country's evolving macroeconomic performance and structural policy framework, from the difficult days of the recession in the early transition period and the 1998 crisis to Russia's sustained and robust growth since 1999. He outlines the remaining reform priorities in Russia and concludes with pragmatic policy recommendations for the reform agenda.
The wide variation in transition economies raises questions about differences in economic growth, the applicability of transition policies, and the advantages of economic reform. This report seeks to answer these questions.
This title was first published in 2003. Emerging Market Economies: Globalization and Development is the result of a comprehensive international research project co-ordinated within the TIGER (Transformation, Integration and Globalization Economic Research). It deals with economic, social and political implications of globalization for the development of emerging market economies and is authored by a host of international scholars from the USA, Chile, Tanzania, UK/Italy, Hungary, Poland, Romania, China and Japan. Kolodko et al examine the fundamental issues of the influences of globalization on the markets for capital, goods and labour and for the growth and development in emerging markets including post-communist countries. The study includes a number of comprehensive and compatible works which deal especially with the chances for and mechanism of catching-up on these emerging markets.
This paper discusses the robust growth that continues in most Central and Southeastern European economies as well as in Turkey. Accommodative macroeconomic policies, improving financial intermediation, and rising real wages have been behind the region’s mostly consumption-driven rebound, while private investment remained subdued. In the near-term, strong domestic demand is expected to continue supporting growth amid continued low or negative inflation. The Russian economy went through a sharp contraction last year amid plunging oil prices and sanctions. Other CIS countries were hurt by domestic political and financial woes, as well as by weak demand from Russia. In 2016, output contraction is projected to moderate to around 11⁄2 percent from 41⁄4 percent in 2015 as the shocks that hit the CIS economies gradually reverberate less and activity stabilizes. In the baseline, a combination of supportive monetary policy and medium-term fiscal consolidation remains valid for many economies in the region.
In this comprehensive 2004 overview of the Russian economy, OECD carefully analyses this heavily resources-dependent economy and its vulnerabilities. It recommends a comprehensive program of fiscal prudence and structural reform, particularly ...
