How to Stabilize: Lessons from Post-Communist Countries

Abstract

Post-communist Countries. BETWEEN 1989 AND 1991 the collapse of the Soviet bloc brought down the established political system in a number of countries.' With the rapid decline of the communist party's power throughout the region, and particularly following the collapse of the Soviet Union, it proved impossible to maintain an economic system based on hierarchical subordination, predominant state ownership, and a command-rationing allocation mechanism.2 All previously communist-controlled countries therefore inherited both an economic system that no longer functioned properly and a political struggle for power. The central problem has proved to be one of controlling inflation. In theory, liberalization and privatization can take place without price stabilization, but in practice this combination has not proved effective. At least in these countries, it has not proved possible to balance the budget or control monetary emission without large cuts in subsidies and 1. We focus on twenty-three countries: the fifteen countries that emerged from the Soviet Union, the seven commonly referred to as central or eastern Europe (Poland,

From inspection to auditing: Audit and markets as linked ecologies

“…(Nezavisimaya gazeta, 02.04.1991) Particularly between 1989 and 1992, Soviet and later post-Soviet transformation policies came to be grounded in beliefs that processes of radical marketisation, liberalisation and privatisation could transform Russia's highly bureaucratised, statist economic system, including its unwieldy inspection apparatus, into a dynamic, competitive capitalist economy (Åslund, Boone, Johnson, Fischer & Ickes, 1996;Gaidar, 2003;IMF et al, 1991;Sachs & Warner, 1995;World Bank, 1996). Gorbachev acknowledged that "there is no alternative to shifting to the market" (Pomer, 2001, p Gorbachev's intent to transition to the market was met by the West with beguiling offers to share knowledge and experience.…”

Mind the Break! Accounting for Changing Patterns of Growth during Transition

“…The reform index, inflation and the war dummy are variables that have been prominently used in the literature on growth during transition (see, for example, De Melo, Denizer and Gelb, 1996;Aslund, Boone and Johnson, 1996;Havrylyshyn, Izvorski and van Rooden, 1998;Berg et al, 1999;Wolf, 1999;Falcetti, Raiser andSanfey, 2002 andFalcetti, Lysenko andSanfey, 2006). …”

Transition and Agriculture

“…If one takes into account differences in initial conditions and external factors, such as regional conflicts, those countries which have reformed earliest and most radically are now doing best (Aslund et al, 1996;de Melo and Gelb, 1996;de Melo et al, 1997;Fischer et al 1996;Wyplosz, 2000). Such a finding, if true, would suggest the superiority of radical reform.…”