State of the Art in Economics Education and Research in Transition Economies

Abstract

The development of the institutional capacity to create and evaluate economic policies remains a critical need—and constraint—in most transition economies if they are to complete the successful passage to fully functioning market economies. To take an active role in the transition process, economic policymakers, business leaders, government officials, and others need a thorough grounding in market-based economics. This requires strengthening economics education and providing support for qualified economists to teach economics at all levels and to carry out high-quality research and policy analysis. Although the education systems in a handful of countries have already risen to the challenge, in many other transition countries, the structure of educational and research institutes remains grounded in the Communist model. This paper presents findings from a comprehensive study assessing the current state of economics education and research in twenty-four countries of East-Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. While twenty countries were included because preliminary assessments showed that they lacked the capability to offer high-quality economics education, four countries—the Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, and Ukraine—were included to highlight five centers of excellence that they already host. Based on the experience of these successful centers, this paper presents an approach to building new indigenous capacity for teaching and research on market-based economics in regions where the need is particularly critical—the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Southeast Europe. Comparative Economic Studies (2000) 42, 65–108. doi:10.1057/ces.2000.10

The new kids on the block: The entry of private business schools in transition economies

“…This survey follows-up on a previous World Bank study on the state of undergraduate economics education in transition countries (Pleskovic et al 2000). An additional questionnaire was sent to all of the field researchers participating in the first survey.…”

“…Faculty members were usually trained in Marxist economics. In some cases, there were individuals who had studied abroad via Fulbright scholarships and similar programs, but generally very few professors had graduate degrees from Western institutions (Pleskovic et al, 2000). Rapid retraining was difficult to achieve, in part due to the heavy teaching burdens already placed on faculty.…”

Internationalization of Post-Soviet Economists: Evidence from Central Asia and the Caucasus

“…While the number of new generation economists equipped for the market system grew both in domestic institutions and abroad, the old Soviet-style professors continued to hold key positions in government bodies and government universities in all post-Soviet countries. These institutions were characterized by poor quality teachers, little incentive for research, and low standards for graduation, recruitment, and promotion (Androushak and Yudkevich, 2012;Pleskovic et al, 2002;Kirtchik, 2012;Coupe, 2008). This was the case even among the fast reformers of the region, while it was worse in more isolated and nationalistic Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan or poor Tajikistan (Pleskovic et al 2002;Androushak and Yudkevich, 2012).…”

“…These institutions were characterized by poor quality teachers, little incentive for research, and low standards for graduation, recruitment, and promotion (Androushak and Yudkevich, 2012;Pleskovic et al, 2002;Kirtchik, 2012;Coupe, 2008). This was the case even among the fast reformers of the region, while it was worse in more isolated and nationalistic Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan or poor Tajikistan (Pleskovic et al 2002;Androushak and Yudkevich, 2012).…”

Soft capitalism and a hard industry: virtualism, the ‘transition industry’ and the restructuring of the Ukrainian coal industry

“…The Economic Education and Research Consortium (EERC) was established in 1996, which acted as an important meeting place for academic economists in Kyiv. Funded by the Eurasia Foundation, the Open Society Institute, the World Bank and the Ford Foundation (Pleskovic et al . 1999, 27), the EERC was governed by an international advisory board of leading Western economists and IFI officials.…”