Regional Price Formation in Eastern Europe

Regional Price Formation in Eastern Europe PDF Author: J.M. van Brabant
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400936354
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
This monograph presents a detailed examination of a variety of issues pertain ing to pricing in the context of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), a designation that I much prefer over Comecon. It situates itself within the contours of the pricing problematique that I have recently analyzed as one component of the broader aspects of monetary cooperation, essentially among the Eastern European countries (see Chapters 4 and 5 of Brabant, 1987). The suggestion that I elaborate in detail on the circumstances under which prices for regional trade within the framework of the CMEA are determined was 'strongly' urged by an anonymous referee of Brabant (1986b) and Josef Brada, the editor of Journal of Comparative Economics. Both evidently felt that the comparatively commodity-specific pricing issues that I have presented piecemeal in half a dozen articles or so since 1984 had remained too narrow, largely configured as they inevitably were by the empirical findings of exercises applied to a small number of commodities, as discussed here in Chapter 7. Under the circumstances, I saw little point in attempting to set forth these in tricate issues in a comprehensive framework. Perhaps the central motivation was that many of the regional pricing issues in the CMEA have, by and large, remained quite obscure and intractable. They might be crucial determinants in some isolated cases, as I was trying to verify.

Regional Price Formation in Eastern Europe

Regional Price Formation in Eastern Europe PDF Author: J.M. van Brabant
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400936354
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 301

Get Book Here

Book Description
This monograph presents a detailed examination of a variety of issues pertain ing to pricing in the context of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), a designation that I much prefer over Comecon. It situates itself within the contours of the pricing problematique that I have recently analyzed as one component of the broader aspects of monetary cooperation, essentially among the Eastern European countries (see Chapters 4 and 5 of Brabant, 1987). The suggestion that I elaborate in detail on the circumstances under which prices for regional trade within the framework of the CMEA are determined was 'strongly' urged by an anonymous referee of Brabant (1986b) and Josef Brada, the editor of Journal of Comparative Economics. Both evidently felt that the comparatively commodity-specific pricing issues that I have presented piecemeal in half a dozen articles or so since 1984 had remained too narrow, largely configured as they inevitably were by the empirical findings of exercises applied to a small number of commodities, as discussed here in Chapter 7. Under the circumstances, I saw little point in attempting to set forth these in tricate issues in a comprehensive framework. Perhaps the central motivation was that many of the regional pricing issues in the CMEA have, by and large, remained quite obscure and intractable. They might be crucial determinants in some isolated cases, as I was trying to verify.

Integrating Eastern Europe into the Global Economy:

Integrating Eastern Europe into the Global Economy: PDF Author: J.M. Van Brabant
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401135789
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
This book is designed as a modest contribution to the ongoing deliberations about how to ease the fairly tight constraints on the external payments of many countries of the eastern part of Europe. In the fIrst instance, this inquiry is addressed to those that have embarked on wide-ranging systemwide reforms. External constraints have been markedly hampering the introduction of market oriented economic mutations, thereby raising the cost of transition far above levels expected at the outset of the present wave of uniquely restructuring the countries involved. I explore here several angles of this discussion. But three stand out. One is the disintegration of the postwar framework for economic cooperation in that part of the world. Another is the disarray brought about by incisive economic transformations in the area. Finally, various national, regional, and international interest groups are at work there, hoping to mold somehow the drift of the reform, or at least key components thereof, in their own "image. " In the process it is often forgotten, as Ralf Dahrendorf (1990, p. 41) so pointedly remarked that "[ a]ll systems mean serfdom, including the . natural' system of a total . market order' in which no one tries to do anything other than guard certain rules of the game discovered by a mysterious sect of economic advisers.

The Status of Civil Science in Eastern Europe

The Status of Civil Science in Eastern Europe PDF Author: Craig Sinclair
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400909713
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 374

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Book Description
The NATO Science Programme, under the direction of the Science Com mittee, mounted in September 1986 a successful meeting which examined the structure and outputs of civil science in the Soviet Union. As a topical sectoral examination of the evolutionary state of the Soviet Union under those in separable and elusive twins, 'perestroyka' and 'glasnost', it was successful in providing the basis for assessments of the likely future role of Soviet scientists in the world scene. Such meetings are infrequent events in the Programme calendar; the Science Programme has concentrated for thirty years almost exclusively on supporting scientific mobility in the Alliance countries. This it does, essentially, through the funding under competitive conditions, of fellow ships, exchanges and meetings of researchers. Such activities are a response to unsolicited scientific demand from the Alliance R&D community which sees mobility as an essential part of scientific dissemination (rather lacking it would appear from the following accounts in the Eastern European countries). The Committee, however, does like to act upon its own behalf in supporting wider perceptions of the place of R&D in the world by examining, from time to time, topics of strong current interest. These have taken the form of the consideration of particularly pressing issues, as arose for example in the series of energy and material supply crises of the seventies.

The Transition from Socialism in Eastern Europe

The Transition from Socialism in Eastern Europe PDF Author: Arye L. Hillman
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 082132148X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description


Remaking Eastern Europe — On the Political Economy of Transition

Remaking Eastern Europe — On the Political Economy of Transition PDF Author: J.M. Van Brabant
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400906897
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
This compact volume is meant as a modest contribution to the ongoing debate on how to transform in particular the radically reforming Eastern European economies into more productive sociopolitical organizations. Although my main focus here is on the economics of reform and east-west assistance, I have tried to embed the multiple technical aspects of restructuring such a resource alloca tion into the context of remaking Eastern Europe. That the volume coincides with the seminal transformations of the communist countries of Eastern Europe is, of course, not fortuitous. But I shall have much less to say about the politi cal transitions from communism to parliamentary democracy, except the ways in which the latter may bolster or hinder the hoped-for economic mutations. In taking stock of where I stand on the issue of "radical reform" of planned economics in general and the CMEA in particular, both still moving targets, I have benefited greatly from participation in formal and informal conferences on economic reform. The product has also profited from many informal discus sions and exchanges of views among friends and colleagues, including those entrusted with and purely interested in efforts on the overall topic of the study launched from within the broad context of the United Nations, my at times reluctant employer.

Comecon

Comecon PDF Author: J. J. Brine
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 9781560000808
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
Comecon, or the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, was founded by Joseph Stalin in 1949 to counteract the Marshall Plan and reinforce the bonds between the Soviet Union and the "people's democracies" of Eastern Europe. Other Soviet Bloc nations later joined "Comecon, "and for forty years it dominated the trade policies of the Soviet Bloc and profoundly influenced their domestic economic development and relations with the West. "Comecon "collapsed in 1991 after the countries of Eastern Europe rejected communism. It was often compared with the (West European) Common Market, but differed vastly in its aims, structure, powers, and activities. Its influence is a critical factor in assessing both the economic failures of the Soviet Bloc and the problems facing former member states as they make the transition to free-market economies. This detailed, annotated bibliography is an essential guide to the extensive English-language literature about "Comecon "from its founding until its demise. Chapters cover "Comecon's "history, structure, and law; socialist economic integration; the organization's arrangements for international trade and finance; environment, natural resources, and energy; labor; industry and agriculture; science and technology. "Comecon, "like the rest of the Soviet Bloc, collapsed suddenly, but its legacy will color international relations and worldwide economic issues for years to come. An understanding of its institutions, mechanisms, and policies remains vital hi appreciating the economic organization of the former Soviet empire. This bibliography will therefore be indispensable to policymakers, economists, historians, and political scientists.

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe PDF Author: Mary E. Lassanyi
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Europe, Eastern
Languages : en
Pages : 74

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Book Description


Privatizing Eastern Europe

Privatizing Eastern Europe PDF Author: J.M. Van Brabant
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401128340
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
This volume is meant to be a modest contribution to the ongoing debate about the transitions away from the administrative planning environment typical of the former communist regimes. The central subject matter is a fairly special one, namely the privatization of these economies together with the restoration and effective monitoring of property rights. These are paramount tasks of the ongoing transformations once progress toward pOlitical democracy is secured. Though I would not allot divestment of existing state-owned assets the kind of pivotal importance that some observers reserve for it, changing rules on the utilization of these assets is evidently at the core of what the transition toward market-based economic systems should be all about. Rather than examining the entire range of issues that surround the controvery on privatization, this volume is primarily concerned with the economics of taking the state out of the decision making about existing assets. Among the several aspects of this discussion three stand out. One is the establishment of clear property rights. This is fundamental to minimize trans action costs in an environment where decisions will increasingly be taken by independent economic agents acting on their own account. Second, I look only incidentally at the various angles of creating capital markets, particularly for existing assets, in these economies.

Industrial Policy in Eastern Europe

Industrial Policy in Eastern Europe PDF Author: J.M. Van Brabant
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401107920
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 374

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Book Description
This volume in essence continues my recent contributions towards building up a better understanding of the wide range of obstacles besetting the transitions away from administrative planning in the former communist regimes in the eastern part of Europe. It is self-contained, however. As such, it specifically addresses issues revolving around how best to govern economies, and indeed societies more generally, that are undergoing fundamental structural transfor mation, and whether industrial policy can facilitate progressing with the vexing transformations that will have to be enacted over a protracted period of time. Because of the bewildering variety of hindrances that the managers of the transition have been confronted with, many of which were not even contem plated when the programs were first designed, regaining a measure of good governance, including notably good economic governance, is critical in formu lating a positive pOlitical economy of transition. Arguably most critical is steering the processes of destruction and creation-not 'creative destruction' in the Schumpeterian sense. In some cases, this requires reallocating decom missioned resources, both capital and labor, to new activities. Changing rules on the utilization of existing assets is evidently at the core of what the transi tion towards market-based economic systems should be all about Very often, however, this requires establishing new economic activities from domestic and foreign savings.

Protectionism and World Welfare

Protectionism and World Welfare PDF Author: Dominick Salvatore
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521424899
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 478

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Book Description
This volume addresses highly topical issues at a crucial time in international economic relations. The world has never been closer to dismantling the liberal multilateral trading system which has been painstakingly established and successfully operated since the Second World War. In this volume many of the world's most distinguished economists examine the movement toward protectionism, bilateralism, and regionalism, and its causes, effects, and possible solutions. The contributors are theorists, researchers, and advisors to governments and international organizations who are at the forefront of trade theory, policy, and practice, and whose analyses have a real impact on international trade. By collecting together these analyses in a single volume, this book provides a unique survey for students and scholars of economics, and all those concerned with trade theory and policy in business and government.