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This study examines the relative successes and failures of reform programs in Poland and Czechoslovakia, as well as the causes of these successes and failures. It provides a synthesized and comparative study of efforts to achieve systemic economic transformation. The work begins with the identification of background forces in these two countries--cultural, social, political, and economic--analyzing their impact on micro-responsiveness to reform policies. Then, within the framework of these forces, the author traces the causes of the two economies' reform failures during and since the Communist era. The central purpose of the work is to provide objective lessons for economies attempting systemic transformations or implementing development policies.
This work will be of interest to scholars and policymakers in development economics and comparative economic systems and policies.
List of contents
Introduction
Background Forces: Poland and Czechoslovakia
The Two Economies: 1945-1989
Economic Performance: 1945-1989
Reform Experiences: 1945-1989
Current reforms: Legal Foundations and Pricing Policy
Fiscal Reform
Currency, Banking, Monetary Reforms
Reforming Foreign Investment Policy
Reforming Foreign Trade Policies
Property Restitution and Ownership Transformation
Anti-Monopoly and Employment Policies
Industrial Responses
A Theoretical Frame for Lessons in Systemic Transformation
Conclusions and Recommendations
Chronology of Significant Events
Interviewees
References
Index
About the author
RAPHAEL SHEN is a member of the Society of Jesus and a professor of economics at the University of Detroit. He is the author of
The Polish Economy: Legacies from the Past, Prospects for the Future (Praeger, 1992).
