AN EXAMINATION AND AN ANALYSIS OF THE EXPERIENCES OF TRANSITION ECONOMIES IN EASTERN EUROPE
Following the collapse of state socialism in Central and Eastern Europe, democracy and free enterprise are spreading sporadically throughout the region. By 1995, more than a third of the economic output in the former socialist economies was being produced by the private sector, product shortages had lessened considerably, and some entrepreneurs and speculators were becoming wealthy, and not simply by the standards of the former socialist economies.
The transition of former command economies to market economies has tended to vary in effectiveness, wherein effectiveness is equated with the development of economic efficiency within an economy and the transmission of benefits to the participants in that economy. Much of the variation in the progress in the transition economies, therefore, may be assessed within a theoretical framework of economic efficiency.
While all transition economies face common problems, important differences exist in relation to both their economic status when transition began and the policies implemented to foster and govern transition. These differences both affect and partly explain differences in economic performance by these economies during the transition era.
This review found that the Czech Republic is in the strongest position of the three countries; however, the Czech Republic was in the strongest position of the three countries when transition began. Poland along among the three countries is moving in the desired direction within an economic context.
Those countries with the greatest experience with market economics fare better in the transition from socialist to market economies. As opposed to the shock transitions attempted by some East European economies, most likely would fare better with more gradual and planned transitions.
This research reviews the process of transition in Eastern Euro...