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The article discusses research into international businesses centered in Central and Eastern Europe. Much of this has focused on theories such as transaction cost economics, agency theory, and institutional perspectives. Articles in this issue analyze the dynamic processes in transitional economies. Each papers analyze different aspects of transition that businesses must go through to fully internationalize themselves. Several researchers found that positive emotions were the key to increasing a Dutch firm's chances of internationalization. Another showed the rough entry of several Swedish firms into the Russian marketplace.

This section presents abstracts of several studies on economics. Julio J. Rotemberg and Michael Woodford examines the business cycle variation in the markup of price over marginal cost in the study Markups and Business Cycle. The paper Pitfalls and Opportunities: What Macroeconomists Should Know About Unit Roots, by John Y. Campbell and Pierre Perron, is an introduction to unit root econometrics as applied in macroeconomics. The paper first discusses univariate time series analysis. A second part of the paper tackles issues in a multivariate context where cointegration is the central concept. Jean Tirole's Privatization in Eastern Europe: Incentives and the Economics of Transition discusses how incentives and market structure considerations ought to guide the choice of sequencing and institutions in the privatization of state industrial property in Eastern Europe.

This paper assesses the extent of structural or sectoral change and its importance for aggregate productivity growth during times of boom, bust and recovery. The analysis covers 10 EU countries from Central and Eastern Europe over the years 2001-2012. The reallocation of labour across sectors was substantial during the boom, very extensive in 2009 at the depth of the crisis and modest in the subsequent recovery period. The contribution of sectoral change to aggregate productivity growth is computed using various decomposition methods. Changes in labour productivity within sectors play the dominant role for aggregate productivity growth, while reallocation of labour between sectors is less important. This pattern is found through most of the sample period despite large differences in the extent of sectoral change during the boom, crisis and recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we analyze the nature of the shocks hitting the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) over the recent years. To this end, we first evaluate the relative importance of symmetric versus asymmetric shocks, and then extract their temporary component. Our final aim would be assessing the vulnerability of the CEECs to temporary and asymmetric shocks, which would be the most harmful case for the operation of a monetary union. Finally, a comparison with the case of the current EMU members is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to explore the challenge of studying geographies of Eastern Europe in Western Europe. It reflects on the growing relationships – imagined and material – between Eastern and Western Europe and engages in contemporary debates over ‘relational geographies’ to make a case for geographies which imagine our plural, European spatial connections, which connect different parts of the continent and which encourage the re-examination and renegotiation of ideas across East and West in the post-Cold War world. In these ways, the paper borrows from postcolonial frameworks and the ongoing reassessment of area studies to call for studies of Eastern and Western Europe which reinvigorate our "sense of Europe". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have shown that childhood circumstances can have long term consequences that persist until old age. To better understand the transmission of early life circumstances, this paper analyses the effects of health and financial situation during childhood on quality of life after retirement as well as the mediating role of later life health, educational level, and income in this association. Moreover, this study is the first to compare these pathways across European regions. The analyses are based on data of 13,092 retirees aged ≥ 60 and ≤ 85 years from the fifth wave of the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) with full information on childhood and later life measures of health, educational level, financial situation, and quality of life as well as relevant covariates. Five European regions are studied: Central-Western Europe (Austria, Germany), Central-Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia), Northern Europe (Denmark, Sweden), Southern Europe (Italy, Spain), and Western Europe (Belgium, France, The Netherlands). Path analysis is used to identify the direct and indirect effects of childhood measures on quality of life. We find retirees’ quality of life to be associated with childhood finances and health in all five European regions. While both the direct and indirect effects of childhood health are rather moderate and homogeneous across regions, especially the direct effects of childhood finances on quality of life after retirement display a distinct North-South gradient being strongest in Southern Europe. Potential explanations for the regional variations are differences in the countries’ welfare systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between well-being inequality and the economic crisis for countries from Central and Eastern Europe. Using data from Life in Transition Surveys waves 2006 and 2010, we assess the level of happiness gap by computing the instrument-effect-corrected standard deviation. Our results indicate that the dispersion in self-reported well-being levels increased after the economic crisis in all considered countries. We also show that the life satisfaction variation is not necessarily higher for those who report being poor compared to those from the upper part of the income hierarchy. Results also suggest that in general the gaps are higher in the case of those who report being not affected at all by the economic crisis compared to those who report being affected to a large extent by the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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An introduction to the journal is presented in which the guest editors discuss research study carried out on accounting research development and practice in Eastern and Central Europe.

Background: The countries of Central and Eastern Europe have experienced a lot of changes at the end of the 20th century, including changes in the health care systems and especially in primary care. The aim of this paper is to systematically assess the position of family medicine in these countries, using the same methodology within all the countries. Methods: A key informants survey in 11 Central and Eastern European countries and Russia using a questionnaire developed on the basis of systematic literature review. Results: Formally, family medicine is accepted as a specialty in all the countries, although the levels of its implementation vary across the countries and the differences are important. In most countries, solo practice is the most predominant organisational form of family medicine. Family medicine is just one of many medical specialties (e.g. paediatrics and gynaecology) in primary health care. Full introduction of family medicine was successful only in Estonia. Conclusions: Some of the unification of the systems may have been the result of the EU request for adequate training that has pushed the policies towards higher standards of training for family medicine. The initial enthusiasm of implementing family medicine has decreased because there was no initiative that would support this movement. Internal and external stimuli might be needed to continue transition process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an exploratory comparative analysis of the spread of the flat tax in postcommunist Eastern Europe. The paper reviews the flat tax as a public policy prescription, discusses the various arguments that underpin its potential reception, introduces and applies a synthetic comparative method to study its spread in eleven East European countries, draws several conclusions regarding the conditions associated with implementing flat taxes, and suggests further research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the topics of the April 1992 issue of "Economic Policy." This special issue is entirely devoted to Eastern Europe. It features five papers presented at the 14th Economic Policy Panel Meeting held in Prague, Czech Republic on October 18-19, 1991. One way or another, Western Europe will channel resources to help the East. As different official agencies contemplate the appropriate nature and scale of support, there is renewed interest in the role of the Marshall Plan in Western European reconstruction after World War II.

This report presents the proceedings of a workshop held in Constanta, Romania on 22 May 2014. During the workshop, representatives from 18 Central and Eastern European countries gave oral presentations on the current oral health of children and young adults aged 16 years and younger. The aim of the workshop was to collect and present data relating to the oral health of children from Central and Eastern European countries and to discuss them in the context of the political changes that have taken place over the last two decades and the recent economic crisis. The presenters had previously completed a series of questions on oral epidemiological studies, prevention of oral disease, treatment and payment, dental personnel, uptake of oral health care and other considerations and structured their presentations on these topics plus the influence of the economic crisis on oral health. It should be remembered that this paper is a report of the proceedings of a workshop and not a study. Ethics approval is not required for workshops. After the 18 oral presentations a 90 min discussion took place during which further points were raised. The presentations, the discussion and the conclusions which were reached are reported in this manuscript. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past years, new patt erns of regional disparities between metropolised core regions and the remaining parts of Central and Eastern European countries (CEE) have emerged. Such spatial disparities have lately fuelled concerns about further regional polarisation and the peripheralisation of non-metropolitan regions in particular. This is the case although balancing spatial development has been a major goal of European Regional Policy. The paper argues that there is a clear need to bett er understand the social, economic, discursive and political processes constituting regional polarisation and to conduct further research on approaches to deal with and respond to peripheralisation. The proposed research agenda focuses on a multi-scalar relation between core and peripheral regions and applies a process based dynamic understanding of peripherality and centrality. Following this, peripheralised regions bear agency capacities and cannot be seen as powerless victims of some overarching processes associated with the globalising economy. Applying the notions of polarisation and peripheralisation to guide further research, off ers multi-dimensional, multi-scalar and process based conceptualisations of regional development research. With the proposed research agenda, I would like to open up the discussion on new interpretations of the terms peripherality and centrality, rurality and urbanity, border and rural areas, core and peripheral regions, and contribute to the development of new approaches in multi-level governance and ultimately in regional policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do countries move from public to private financing of healthcare? This paper explores this issue by looking at the divergent reform trajectories of three postcommunist countries — the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. While existing accounts emphasize veto points to explain changes in healthcare systems, the present analysis finds that moves towards private financing can be better explained by differences in access to the policymaking arm of the state. Specifically, a penetrable single-party government and weak bureaucratic capacities allow physicians to capture the reform process and implement their preferred policies. The results suggest that scholars of health policy should focus more attention on the actors seeking change and their access to policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the real economic convergence between the new EU entrants in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE-8) and the EU core (EU-12 or EU-15). It includes new estimates on the speed of income-level convergence and new findings about the conformity of cyclical changes. The results offer further evidence of continuous progress in real economic convergence between Central and Eastern Europe and the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the debate on the social impact of globalization. It focuses on the mediating role of the sectoral pattern of transnational production relocation to the postcommunist economies of Eastern Europe. We argue that the collapse of the socialist heavy industries and the eastward relocation of traditional light industries initially forced the social conditions of the East European countries to converge at the bottom and deepened the gap between the West and the East. Later, the eastward migration of high-skilled labor and capital-intensive industries and jobs led to decreasing social disparity between the West and some of the former socialist countries. However, convergence appears uncertain, costly, and uneven, and coincides with increasing social disparity within the group of East European new members and candidates of the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses how incentives and market structure considerations ought to guide the choice of sequencing and institutions in the privatization of state industrial property in Eastern Europe. It first reviews some essential features of private incentives and government intervention in western economies. It then analyzes whether these features are likely to carry over to the Eastern European environment, characterized by a large amount of uncertainty and a nonstationarity in its level, and by the need for substantial efficiency--and competition-oriented restructuring. Finally it draws suggestions concerning the issues of the timing of privatization, that of the introduction of a stock market, the choice among governance structures, the structure of incentives within and outside productive units, and the evolution of industrial policy during the transition process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduces the articles published in the periodical "Eastern European Economics". Topics of the articles; Authors who contributed to the issue; Development in the economic condition of the region focused on in the issue.

The paper begins with a summary of the concept, emphasizing that sustainable development is a strongly supported policy around the world. The case study examines specific aspects of sustainable development in Coca-Cola HBC Romania. Finally it presents the main obstacles and opportunities identified for adoption by Romanian companies in their business of sustainable competitiveness strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainability manifested locally expanded to national, outlining the context of Romanian tourism industry under guidance protection, conservation and regeneration of environmental resources. The paper analyzes the evolution over time of the number, and surface of protected natural areas, being a reference point in the direction of strategic management thinking of tourism in the protected areas in Romania under the spectrum of sustainability, leading to a quantitative development and qualitative at high levels. The analysis of the number and surface of protected natural areas is through the data retrieved from the database Tempo-one line from the NIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to analyze how European integration and, especially, changes in ownership, has affected banking efficiency in Central and Eastern European countries which have recently experimented this process more intensely. Using a stochastic frontier approach, applied to panel data, we have estimated bank efficiency levels in a sample of 189 banks from 12 countries during the period 2000 to 2008 and we have analyzed the influence of some bank characteristics on these efficiency levels. The results show that European integration has significantly improved the cost efficiency of banks in these countries, but profit efficiency has significantly decreased. We have found very small differences between different ownership types and only a very small impact of foreign ownership on cost efficiency, showing that the entry of foreign ownership is not enough to explain the significant variations in banking efficiency after the accession. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The establishment of democracy in the communist countries, which generated profound social and economic transformation, was accompanied by a decline in fertility. We attempt to provide an overall survey on fertility since 1989 in ten Central and Eastern European Countries, members of the European Union, and to identify the variables which explain the fertility decline. We will use univariate and multivariate statistical analysis to identify disparities between the ten countries, and the variables which explain these differences. Also, we developed a panel econometric model to confirm the hypothesis of a similar pattern of evolution for fertility in these countries and that the decline in fertility can be explained both through demographic and economic variables. The decline in fertility can be explained by economic growth, marriage, divorce, abortion, and migration. The empirical evidence presented in this paper supports the view that the decline in fertility over the 1989s represents the continuation of a longstanding trend of the previous period, according to the demographic transition theory, but its speed and magnitude has been influenced by the new social and economic landscape. These results can be useful for public authorities of the CEE countries to rethinking demographic policies and to ensure the sustainability of demographic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to explore the main determinants of growth in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in central and eastern Europe. The important role played by SMEs in the economic development of central and eastern European (CEE) countries has attracted the recent attention of academics and policymakers but remains relatively unexplored. Empirical research has suggested that firm growth is determined not only by the traditional characteristics of size and age but also by other firm-specific factors such as indebtedness, internal financing, future growth opportunities, process and product innovation, and organisational changes. Although growth in manufacturing and service SMEs in transition economies is well explained by the traditional firm characteristics of size and age, there is no empirical evidence concerning what other specific factors may be associated with SME growth and performance in these countries. Using a panel dataset of 560 fast growing small and medium enterprises from six transition economies we find that firm size when measured by firm total assets can explain to a large extent the growth in SMEs in these countries. When size is proxied by a firm's number of employees the observed effect is marginal. Firm specific characteristics such as leverage, current liquidity, future growth opportunities, internally generated funds, and factor productivity are found to be important factors in determining a firm's growth and performance. Age and ownership do not seem to be able to explain firm growth. The results of our empirical study have also some policy implications: we argue that governments in transition economies need to pay an increased attention to small and medium sized enterprises and try to create a business environment that will be beneficial for SME development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper attempts to improve current understanding of the economic value of biodiversity. Instead of the prevailing approach of using only one indicator of biodiversity (typically, species richness) we provide evidence that it is possible to value changes in a number of attributes which describe complex characteristics of biodiversity, based on ecological knowledge. The attributes used include structural, species and functional diversity. The empirical application is a choice experiment study conducted in the Białowieża Forest, Poland: our study is therefore also one of the first to cast light on the value of biodiversity protection in Eastern Europe. Interestingly, respondents valued passive protection regimes resulting in preservation of natural ecological processes. In addition, the respondents seemed to be concerned with the means, and not only the results of protection programmes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper is about the criteria of selection of leaders of the Hungarian - and some other East European --planned economies. It deals with the connections of these criteria with education and career patterns. It interprets the changes in terms of professionalization and cadrification. It argues that because this processes are interwoven the emphasis between loyalty and education (or to put it in the immanent terminology of personnel policy: among the categories of political responsibility, professional knowledge and the skills of leadership) has been slightly altered during the decades of state socialism. But behind the balance of loyalty and competence those social variables which were seriously taken into account in the personnel policy have been changed frequently and sometimes dramatically. It is intended to disclose that despite the basic similarities of socialist industrialization there were differences among the Eastern European societies, concerning the pace of cadre changes and the social-educational composition of the economic elites. It also suggests that one has to distinguish two levels of economic leadership from the very beginning of nationalization. In the light of empirical evidence the criteria of recruitment in the case of the planners-controllers and in the case of the enterprise managers were different. According to the Hungarian experiences the economic reform supported the process of professionalization, although the proportion of party members remained extremely high. With the systemic changes party membership lost and networks gained importance in the selection of the elite. Despite the importance of the subject literature on leaders in planned economies is rather scanty. A greater part of articles are managerial studies, while empirical contributions mainly survey the political elites rather than the leaders involved in the economic control sphere and at the helm of enterprises, a layer which is more difficult to reconstruct empirically. It is a specific feature of research on Hungarian leaders to use case studies or interviews. These methods, though most suitable for exploring the attitudes and interests of leader, mark out the boundaries of analysis as well. The data and information in the following represent mostly the Hungarian, and partly the Soviet, Polish and Czechoslovakian developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economies that we are concerned with here fall somewhere between the two extremes of a very traditional centrally planned economy and a well-established market-type economy. In this paper, much of the more detailed discussion concerns Hungary, largely because it is the economy which has already moved furthest towards a market-type economy. Changing an economic system, even one that is performing poorly, is always a difficult and risky undertaking. In the Eastern European countries, where central planning has generated rather high growth rates of gross output in the past, accompanied by much slower improvements in living standards (as evidenced by the widening gap between East and West in Europe), it has taken some time for outside observers, as well as local political elites and the general population in Eastern Europe to appreciate that the old. Soviet-type system for running the economy had run out of steam. But there is now widespread acceptance of the need for fundamental change, fuelled by actual declines in living standards in the 1980s in several countries, by an increase awareness of the severity of the debt crisis especially in Hungary and Poland (but also now in Bulgaria), and by easier travel to the West making people more conscious of the achievements of more productive economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most pressing economic problems of the 1980s in the East European countries has been the accumulation of external indebtedness. Though the problem has not been solved by systemic changes in the countries concerned, the economies of Eastern Europe currently in transition are mainly engaged in coping with such newly emerging problems as rising inflation, growing unemployment, a sharp recession, a high budget deficit, political instability, growing social tension, and ethnic problems. On the other hand, the decreasing significance attached to the debt problem can be explained by the decline in net debt in certain countries due mainly to rising foreign-currency reserves, an influx of foreign direct investment (FDI), and exchange-rate movements. However, the future of the East European economies, the financing of their transition to a market economy, and the restoration of their political and social stability depend to a large extent on a successful debt-management policy. This paper sets out to outline and evaluate the different debt-management options available to the East European countries, both in principle and in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores the political economy of rationing to cope with shocks in the past in East Europe. Policy of splitting labor market into outsiders and insiders; Persistence of non-pricing rationing; Implications of black market activity increase on resources.

This paper conceptualizes the political economy of the Soviet bloc in terms of concepts used to describe ‘classic dependence’ and ‘dependent development’ in the capitalist periphery. In particular, the rapid economic growth that occurred in Eastern Europe between the mid-1950s and mid-1970s can be termed ‘dependent development’ because the primary stimulus for it came from an external dominator (the Soviet Union) and because the process of economic growth and structural transformation made Eastern Europe more dependent economically upon the USSR and created ‘class linkages’ of common interest between the Soviet and East European elites. Dependent development of the Soviet bloc was also analogous to the Western case in that, despite initial successes, it ultimately created major economic, political, and social ‘contradictions’-which seemingly can only be resolved by a radical structural transformation. In addition to such similarities between ‘capitalist’ and ‘socialist’ dependency, there are several important differences as well that evidently derive from the fact that dependency relationships are more ‘political’ in the Soviet bloc and more `economic' in the capitalist world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one by Emre Ozsoz on the different aspects of dollarization in transition economies, on by Zuzana Kucerová on the level of international financial integration of eight new European Union (EU) members, and on by Ramón María-Dolores on the extent of exchange rate pass-through for the new members of the EU.

Research quality dictates the reputation of faculty, colleges, and universities, regardless of their location. In order to shed some light on the quality construct, this research reports on the scholarly impact of economics and finance (E&F) journals published in countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). A comparison of coverage by Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, and Cabell's, three scholarly databases, reveals the lesser coverage of CEE journals within WoS and Scopus. Examination of E&F journals published in Poland, Romania, and the remainder of CEE, as defined by the Journal of Eastern European and Central Asian Research, discloses that the level of quality varies by nation. There are variations across the popular CiteScore, SJR, SNIP, and percentage of articles cited bibliometric measures. Furthermore, this research documents the existence of impact variation between journals focused on Eastern Europe published in Eastern Europe and published elsewhere in the world. Insights regarding both journal characteristics and review procedures will be of great value in assessing the impact of E&F performance of research of scholars, whether or not they reside in Eastern Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on the trends of world politics and international relations in Central and Eastern Europe. It highlights the impact of human interventions on international cooperation. It discusses the complex relationship between small states and international institutions, political economy and the shifting dynamics of international order, as of December 2020.

Background The aim of the study is 2-fold. Firstly, it attempts to investigate the potential impact of major political and economic changes on inequalities in all-cause mortality among men and women with different levels of education in three Eastern European countries. Secondly, to identify changes in contribution of smoking and drinking to educational differences in all-cause mortality. Study covers the period from 1982 to 2013. Methods Data were collected in 2013–14 as a part of the PrivMort retrospective cohort study. Participants in Russia, Belarus and Hungary provided information on their educational attainment, health-related behaviors and vital statistics of their close relatives (N = 179 691). Odds ratios for mortality and relative indices of inequality (RII) were estimated for individuals aged 20–65 years, stratifying by three levels of educational attainment: higher, secondary and less than secondary education. Results Those in lower educational groups were significantly more likely to die, through most time periods and sub-groups. The RII increased over time in all countries and both genders, except for Hungarian men. Alcohol consumption and smoking have increasingly contributed to educational inequalities in mortality during this period. Conclusion Educational inequalities in mortality in these Eastern European countries have increased during recent decades. Smoking and alcohol consumption, two major health-related behaviors, made a significant contribution to these increases in inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses ways in which difficult changes in Eastern Europe have allowed Japan to become an economic power. Eastern Europe's financial crises have arisen due to troubles transitioning to free markets and capitalism. American policy makers who have acknowledged the financial problems of countries such as the Soviet Union or Germany have also realized they can implant Japanese money in the place of European money. In the same time that communism is on the verge of extinction as a viable species of government, Japan has undergone changes nearly as significant to international relations as those of the Soviet bloc. Advantages to Japan's economic involvement in Western markets are discussed.

Background While some WHO European Region countries are global tobacco control leaders, the South Eastern region of Europe has the highest tobacco smoking prevalence globally and a relatively low level of overall implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). An abridged version of SimSmoke has been developed to project the health impact of implementing tobacco control policies in line with the WHO FCTC. Methods Data on population size, smoking prevalence, policy-specific effect sizes and formulas were applied in 11 South Eastern WHO European Region countries [Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska), Bulgaria, Croatia, Israel, Montenegro, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia] to project the relative reduction in smoking prevalence, number of smokers and number of smoking-attributable deaths resulting from implementing individual and/or combined six WHO FCTC measures. Results For all countries, an increase in excise cigarette taxes to 75% of price yields the largest relative reduction in smoking prevalence (range 8–28%). The projections show that within 15 years smoking prevalence can be reduced by at least 30% in all countries when all six tobacco control measures are fully implemented in line with the WHO FCTC. Conclusion The projections show that large health effects can be achieved and the results can be used as an advocacy tool towards acceleration of the enforcement of tobacco control laws in WHO European Region countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reconsiders the relative growth performance of centrally planned economies in the broader context of postwar growth in Europe. It reports a new dataset of revised estimates for investment rates in eastern European countries between 1950 and 1989. Complemented with data on other growth determinants, this evidence is used to re-evaluate the socialist growth record in a conditional convergence framework with a panel of 24 European countries. After controlling for relative backwardness, investment rates, and improvements in human capital, the findings show that centrally planned economies underperformed due to their relative inefficiency only after the postwar golden age. In the 1950s and 1960s, eastern Europe was falling behind mainly due to relatively low levels of investment and weak reconstruction dynamics. Both are explained, in part, by the lack of labour-supply flexibility that, in turn, resulted from the comparatively much larger negative impact of the war on population growth in eastern Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In case of orphan drugs applicability of the standard health technology assessment (HTA) process is limited due to scarcity of good clinical and health economic evidence. Financing these premium priced drugs is more controversial in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region where the public funding resources are more restricted, and health economic justification should be an even more important aspect of policy decisions than in higher income European countries.Objectives: To explore and summarize the recent scientific evidence on value drivers related to the health technology assessment of ODs with a special focus on the perspective of third party payers in CEE countries. The review aims to list all potentially relevant value drivers in the reimbursement process of orphan drugs.Methods: A systematic literature review was performed; PubMed and Scopus databases were systematically searched for relevant publications until April 2015. Extracted data were summarized along key HTA elements.Results: From the 2664 identified publications, 87 contained relevant information on the evaluation criteria of orphan drugs, but only 5 had direct information from the CEE region. The presentation of good clinical evidence seems to play a key role especially since this should be the basis of cost-effectiveness analyses, which have more importance in resource-constrained economies. Due to external price referencing of pharmaceuticals, the relative budget impact of orphan drugs is expected to be higher in CEE than in Western European (WE) countries unless accessibility of patients remains more limited in poorer European regions. Equity principles based on disease prevalence and non-availability of alternative treatment options may increase the price premium, however, societies must have some control on prices and a rationale based on multiple criteria in reimbursement decisions.Conclusions: The evaluation of orphan medicines should include multiple criteria to appropriately measure the clinical added value of orphan drugs. The search found only a small number of studies coming from CEE, therefore European policies on orphan drugs may be based largely on experiences in WE countries. More research should be done in the future in CEE because financing high-priced orphan drugs involves a greater burden for these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent changes in the security environment of Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus have been reshaping the strategies of the six small countries in the proximity of both the EU and Russia. Their attempts to take upon themselves their Soviet heritage and their sensitive geographical position were reflected by a mix of East-West orientations. Some of them chose to create stronger economic bonds with the EU members while others decided to anticipate Russian discontent in separatist areas they shelter and became members of the EEU. Regardless of their option, the Eastern Partnership members embarked? on a long road of political, social and economic changes, so that their stability and growth would become pillars of a stronger role on the regional and international arena in the future. The EU, in turn, has been supporting its partners to the East according to their level of commitment to reform and approximation, although the economic benefits of this relation are imperceptible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: After the fall of communism, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe started the process of political, economic, and social transformation. In health system the reform directions were often similar, despite differences in transition dynamics and the degree of government determination to implement reforms. Nonetheless, for most post-communist countries, there is a gap in evidence regarding the effectiveness of implemented reforms and their impact on health system performance. The presented study attempts to analyse and evaluate the results of health reforms in CEE countries with regard to their influence on health system outcomes. We also analysed the external and internal health system environments during the transition period to determine the factors affecting the effectiveness of health reforms.Methods: We compared the indicators of population health status, lifestyle, occupational safety issues and health system resources in 21 post-communist countries between sub-periods across the entire transition period at the aggregate level. The dynamics of change in health system outcomes in individual countries, as well as between countries, was also compared. Finally, we analysed the correlations between health system outcomes gathered into one synthetic measure and factors considered as potential determinants affecting the effectiveness of health reforms. The analyses were performed based on one-dimensional, two-dimensional and multidimensional statistical methods. The data were retrieved from the international databases, such as WHO, World Bank, International Labour Organization, World Value Survey and the European Social Survey.Results: Among the factors positively stimulating improvements in health system outcomes were the total expenditure on health and a lower financial burden on patients, but primarily they were determined by the broader economic context of the country. Another finding was that better initial position positively determined health system outcomes at later stages, but did not affect the degree of improvements. Countries that embarked on comprehensive reforms early on tended to achieve the greatest improvements in health system outcomes.Conclusions: Poorer countries may have only limited ability to improve health system outcomes by committing more financial resources to the health system. Progress can still be made in terms of health behaviours, since policies to address these have so far been insufficient or ineffective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the arduous task of policymakers in Central and Eastern Europe of developing labor market policies in an environment transitioning from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. Provides some labor market policy recommendations from the study `From Labour Shortage to Labour Shedding: Labour Markets in Central and Eastern Europe,' by Tito Boeri and Mark Keese; Contact point.

The article provides information on the Communist Economies journal. This quarterly journal is published by Carfax Publishing Company. It deals with the economies of the communist countries, primarily Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Volume one of this journal features nine articles dealing with various issues such as the progress and problems facing socialist economy, economic reform in socialism, changes in the Soviet banking system and agricultural reforms in the Soviet Union.

The article discusses the impact of globalisation and depoliticisation of the political economy on post-communist Eastern Central Europe (ECE) with an emphasis on Poland. Three waves of post-communist neoliberalisation are discussed. The first wave was an extension of the Washington Consensus which emphasized privitsastion and internationalisation. The second wave was the enlargement of the European Union (EU) and economic competitiveness. The third wave since 2004 is a push towards a global agenda and neoliberal competitiveness and capitalism. It is suggested that the economic, institutional, and social process related to neoliberalisation should be re-politicized.

There has been an explosion of interest in rule of law in recent decades and growing interest in middle-income countries (MICs) among economists and development specialists, including the World Bank. However, there has been relatively less work done on rule of law in MICs and the special issues MICs face in developing a functional legal system. This is preliminary attempt to under-stand some of issues facing MICs as they seek to establish rule of law. To keep the scope manageable given the wide diversity of MICs, I compare Eastern European MICs and China. Part II pro-vides a brief introduction to MICs and general issues they face. Part III provides a broad empirical comparison of Eastern Euro-pean countries, the Baltics and former soviet republics, and China. Parts TV to VI discuss ride of law issues in Eastern Europe, with comparisons to China, focusing on lustration issues, implementa-tion gaps, and the very different performance of constitutional and regular courts. Part VII turns to recent debates about the role of courts in China, and the controversial crackdown on social and political cause lawyering. Part VIII concludes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the determinants of corruption in transition economies of the post-Soviet Union, Central-Eastern Europe, and Western industrialized states. We look in-depth at the East–West gap in corruption, and why entrepreneurs and small business owners become engaged in corrupt deals. Part of the answers lie in the country-specific formal and informal institutional make-up. The likelihood of engaging in corruption is influenced by the lower efficiency of financial and legal institutions and the lack of their enforcements. Also, viewing illegal business activities as a widespread business practice provides the rationale for entrepreneurs to justify their own corrupt activities. Moreover, closed social networks with family, friends, and national bureaucrats reduce the opportunism of the contracting party of the corrupt deal, thus providing breeding grounds for corruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) play a key role in many developing countries. Utilizing data from Eastern Europe and Central Asia, MFIs are found to generally operate with lower costs the longer they are in operation. Given the differences in operating environments, subsidies, and organizational form, this finding of increasing cost effectiveness may not aptly characterize all MFIs. Estimation of a mixture model reveals that roughly half of the MFIs are able to operate with reduced costs over time, while half do not. Among other things, we find that larger MFIs offering deposits and those receiving lower subsidies operate more cost effectively over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of the article is to assess the influence of economic and political institutions on the situation of the labour market in Central and Eastern European countries. In the initial phase of transformation, the debate in these countries focused on economic stabilization. In recent years, the focus shifted towards institutional solutions of economic processes, including the situation of the labour market. The emphasis is put on the particularities of the countries undergoing transformation, in which profound changes in economic and political institutions are taking place due to the implementation of economic reforms, on the one hand, and the democratization process, on the other hand. Undoubtedly, the process of institutional change was occurring at varying pace in Central and Eastern European Countries as a result of various problems of respective labour markets. The analysis, based upon the data from 1995 to 2006, shows that the institutional structure has a great impact on the labour market. The existence of efficient and well-managed institutions help to reduce distortions in the allocation of the labour force as well as creating demand for labour. I [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neoclassical model of transition from a centrally-administered socialist economic system to a market-based economic system was implemented in Russia and Eastern Europe. The neoclassical process took the form of either shock therapy or gradualism. However, each approach actually involved a combination of shock therapy and gradualist policies, making the distinction between the two approaches unfounded. In addition, both approaches suffered by the innate inadequacies of neoclassical economic analysis as being politically/institutionally naked. Both shock therapy supporters and gradualist neoclassical economists did not provide a specific process of institutional development, favouring a gradual market-driven institutional outcome. With regard to the political structure, democracy was inconsistent with shock therapy, while active state intervention during transition was inconsistent with the ultimate goal of the gradualist neoclassical economists of competitive capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To study the attitudes of health care staff in four postcommunist countries towards taking gifts from their clients--and their confessed experience of actually taking such gifts.Design: Survey questionnaire administered to officials including health care staff, supplemented by focus-group discussions with the general public.Setting: Ukraine, Bulgaria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.Participants: A quota sample of 1,307 officials including 292 health care staff, supplemented by stratified national random samples of 4,778 ordinary members of the public and in-depth interviews or focus-group discussions involving another 323.Main Measurements: Explicit justifications and willingness to accept offers, reported frequency of offers, and personal confessions to accepting "money and expensive presents" as well as smaller gifts.Results: Health care staff were far more inclined than the average official or public servant to accept "money or an expensive present" if offered, far more inclined to justify asking clients for "extra payments", and far more inclined to confess that they had actually taken gifts from clients recently. Judged by their own confessions, hospital doctors were only rivalled by traffic police and customs officials for taking money or expensive gifts from their clients.Conclusions: Poor pay does not explain why doctors so often took large gifts from their clients. Moral self justification, opportunity, and bargaining power are much more effective explanations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]