IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/etrans/v14y2006i2p207-244.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The great transformation of Central Eastern Europe: Success and disappointment

Author

Listed:
  • János Kornai

Abstract

The study examines the changes of the Central Eastern European region first in the context of world history. It confirms by comparative historical analyses that the transformation was indeed unique. This has been the only total transformation that took place peacefully, without violence, and at the same time astonishingly fast, in the main direction of the economic and the political changes of Western civilization. From that perspective it is an exceptional success story. However, from the perspective of everyday life, the result is different. Deep economic troubles are experienced by a considerable portion of the population. The perception of losses is intensified by various cognitive problems. Based on the experience of today's generation, evaluating the change as an unequivocal success would be unwarranted. Both approaches are justified: it would be wrong to blend the two and to weigh them by the same scale.

Suggested Citation

  • János Kornai, 2006. "The great transformation of Central Eastern Europe: Success and disappointment," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 14(2), pages 207-244, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:etrans:v:14:y:2006:i:2:p:207-244
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0351.2006.00252.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0351.2006.00252.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1468-0351.2006.00252.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kolodko, Grzegorz W., 2000. "From Shock to Therapy: The Political Economy of Postsocialist Transformation," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198297437.
    2. Gérard Roland, 2004. "Transition and Economics: Politics, Markets, and Firms," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026268148x, April.
    3. J. Stiglitz, 1999. "Whither Reform? Ten Years of the Transition," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, vol. 7.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Campos, Nauro F & Giovannoni, Francesco, 2006. "The Determinants of Asset Stripping: Theory and Evidence from the Transition Economies," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 49(2), pages 681-706, October.
    2. János Kornai, 2006. "Velká transformace střední a východní Evropy: úspěch a zklamání [The great transformation of central and eastern Europe: success and disappointment]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2006(4), pages 435-466.
    3. Laila Porras, 2010. "Labour Market Trends during Post-Socialist Transformation: The Cases of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Russia," QA - Rivista dell'Associazione Rossi-Doria, Associazione Rossi Doria, issue 4, December.
    4. Stoian, Carmen, 2013. "Extending Dunning's Investment Development Path: The role of home country institutional determinants in explaining outward foreign direct investment," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 615-637.
    5. Schiller Daniel, 2012. "Editorial. Informal dynamics of economic processes: Remarks on the potential of the informality concept," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 56(1-2), pages 1-8, October.
    6. Karla Hoff & Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2008. "Exiting a Lawless State," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(531), pages 1474-1497, August.
    7. Justin Yifu Lin, 2005. "Viability, Economic Transition and Reflection on Neoclassical Economics," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 239-264, May.
    8. Scott Rozelle & Johan F.M. Swinnen, 2004. "Success and Failure of Reform: Insights from the Transition of Agriculture," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(2), pages 404-456, June.
    9. Vojmir Franicevic, 2002. "The Postsocialist States in Southeast Europe: Challenges and Dilemmas," wiiw Balkan Observatory Working Papers 25, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    10. Kornai, János, 2005. "Közép-Kelet-Európa nagy átalakulása - siker és csalódás [The great transformation of Central and Eastern Europe - success and disappointment]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(12), pages 907-936.
    11. Marcello Signorelli & Enrico Marelli, 2007. "Institutional change, regional features and aggregate performance in eight EU’s transition countries," Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia, Finanza e Statistica 37/2007, Università di Perugia, Dipartimento Economia.
    12. Sumon Bhaumik & Saul Estrin, 2003. "Why Transition Paths Differ: Russian and Chinese Enterprise Performance Compared," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 525, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    13. Vladimir Popov, 2006. "Shock Therapy Versus Gradualism Reconsidered: Lessons From Transition Economies After 15 Years Of Reforms," Working Papers w0068, Center for Economic and Financial Research (CEFIR).
    14. Catherine Locatelli & Dominique Finon, 2004. "L'échec de l'introduction d'institutions de marché dans une économie en transition : les limites du consensus de Washington dans un secteur de rente," Post-Print halshs-00001306, HAL.
    15. Natasha Trajkova Najdovska & Monika Angeloska Dichovska, 2017. "Stylized Economic Facts Of Transition," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 6, pages 4-17, December.
    16. Catherine Locatelli & Dominique Finon, 2004. "The failure of introducing market institutions in a rent sector into an economy in transition," Post-Print halshs-00001302, HAL.
    17. Bel, Germà, 2004. "Estado ¿versus? Mercado/State ¿Versus? Market," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 22, pages 231-249, Agosto.
    18. Catherine Locatelli & Dominique Finon, 2003. "Les limites à l'introduction des institutions de marché dans un secteur de rente," Post-Print halshs-00177824, HAL.
    19. repec:dau:papers:123456789/3860 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Eicher, Theo S. & Schreiber, Till, 2010. "Structural policies and growth: Time series evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 169-179, January.
    21. Rode, Martin & Gwartney, James D., 2012. "Does democratization facilitate economic liberalization?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 607-619.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:etrans:v:14:y:2006:i:2:p:207-244. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ebrdduk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.