Comparative Economic Studies

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Happiness and economic systems.(Regular Article)
INTRODUCTION Many studies on the determinants of happiness or subjective well-being (SWB) have explored the impact of particular demographic variables (sex, age, marital status, etc) and also of e . . .

Energy issues and challenges in emerging economies.(Introduction to the Symposium)(Essay)
The management of oil and gas revenues, which are volatile, unpredictable, and ultimately exhaustible, offers important opportunities, but can also greatly complicate economic policy making. In his . . .

Corruption and economic development in energy-rich economies.(Symposium Paper)(Report)
INTRODUCTION Data limitations and the complexity of the oil and gas industry have impeded the efforts of researchers to study and uncover the links between the rents generated by oil revenues and . . .

Using energy resources to diversify the economy: agricultural price distortions in Kazakhstan.(Symposium Paper)(Report)
INTRODUCTION After becoming independent at the end of 1991, Eazakhstan went through a severe recession, which was prolonged by the 1998 Russian Crisis and only turned around in 1999. (1) In sharp . . .

Russia from bust to boom and back: oil price, Dutch disease and stabilisation fund.(Report)
INTRODUCTION Russia is the largest neighbour of the enlarged European Union (EU). The economies of the EU and Russia are increasingly integrated through rising flows of goods, services, capita! an . . .

Rationality as a barrier to peace: micro-evidence from Kosovo.(Report)
INTRODUCTION Economists have often viewed social conflict as an outcome of competition to control natural resources (Hirshleifer, 1995) in contexts where collective action is costly or infeasible. . . .

The European Economy Since 1945. Coordinated Capitalism and Beyond.(Book review)
The European Economy Since 1945. Coordinated Capitalism and Beyond Barry Eichengreen Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ, 2007, pp. 495; index. doi:10.1057/ces.2008.39 This major work . . .

Federalism and Economic Reform: International Perspectives.(Book review)
Federalism and Economic Reform: International Perspectives Jessica S Wallack and TN Srinivasan Cambridge University Press: New York, NY, 2006, pp. 516, index. doi:10.1057/ces.2008.32 Much ad . . .

By Force of Thought: Irregular Memoirs of an Intellectual Journey.(Book review)
By Force of Thought: Irregular Memoirs of an Intellectual Journey Janos Kornai The MIT Press: Cambridge and London, 2006, 461pp. doi:10.1057/ces.2008.40 Readers who know Janos Kornai mainly . . .

International Perspectives on Household Wealth.(Book review)
International Perspectives on Household Wealth Edward N Wolff (ed), Edward Elgar: Cheltenham and Northampton, MA, 2006, 447 pp. ISBN: 978-1845421168; Price: $180 doi:10.1057/ces.2008.52 Alth . . .

From Communists to Foreign Capitalists.(Book review)
From Communists to Foreign Capitalists Nina Bandelj Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ, 2008, 303pp. doi:10.1057/ces.2008.53 Central planning was replaced by a system in which the sea . . .

What did the study of the Soviet economy contribute to mainstream economics?(50th Anniversary Essay)
INTRODUCTION Economics develops as a result of the application of new techniques, such as game theory or experiments; purely internal developments, for example, the development of imperfect compet . . .

Trade, foreign direct investment, and growth: evidence from transition economies.
INTRODUCTION The experiences of economic transition from a centrally planned to a market-based system in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the former Soviet Union raise two pertinent questions. . . .

Worker mobility within Polish agriculture.(Report)
INTRODUCTION Although hailed as an event that would enhance the world standing of the EU (Kok, 2003), the 2004 enlargement imposed severe strains on many of its ambitions and policies. (1) One not . . .

Fertility, money holdings, and economic growth: evidence from Ukraine.
INTRODUCTION Declining fertility has reached a below-replacement level in many Central and East European economies and has caused great concern among politicians and social scientists. According t . . .

Is inflation perceived by Polish consumers driven by prices of frequently bought goods and services?
INTRODUCTION The existence of divergences between economic agents' subjective opinions concerning current price developments and statistical inflation indicators creates a challenge for monetary p . . .

Impact of derivatives trading on emerging stock markets: some evidence from India.
INTRODUCTION There is a debate in the literature as to whether stock market development adds to economic growth. (1) Levine (1991) and Bencivenga et al. (1995, 1996) argue that stock market develo . . .

Masters of Illusion. American Leadership in the Media Age.
Masters of Illusion. American Leadership in the Media Age Steven Rosefielde and D. Quinn Mills Cambridge University Press: New York, 2007, pp. xxvii, 540. Masters of Illusion is a critique of . . .

Institutions and Norms in Economic Development.
Institutions and Norms in Economic Development Mark Gradstein and Kai A. Konrad (eds), CESifo Seminar Series The MIT Press: Cambridge, MA and London, 2007, xv, pp. 234, $30.00, hardcover. ISBN 9 . . .

The New Political Economy of Emerging Europe.
The New Political Economy of Emerging Europe Laszlo Csaba Akademiai Kiado: Budapest, Second edition, 400pp. More sweeping in its scope than its title or size would reveal, this book reviews an . . .

Russia's Capitalist Revolution: Why Market Reform Succeeded and Democracy Failed.
Russia's Capitalist Revolution: Why Market Reform Succeeded and Democracy Failed Anders Aslund Peterson Institute for International Economics: Washington, DC, 2007, xxiii + 356 pp., $26.95, ISBN . . .

The Institutional Economics of Corruption and Reform.
The Institutional Economics of Corruption and Reform Johan Graf Lambsdorff Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, 2007, pp. 286, index. Prof. Lambsdorff has given us a magisterial book tha . . .

French Welfare State Reform: Idealism versus New Zealand and Dutch Pragmatism.
French Welfare State Reform: Idealism versus New Zealand and Dutch Pragmatism James Angresano Anthem Press: London, 2007, $80.00, 279pp. Approaches to the welfare state have evolved from the ' . . .

Equality and Economy: The Global Challenge.
Equality and Economy: The Global Challenge Michael Blim AltaMira Press: Walnut Creek, CA, 2005, 243pp, $29.95, ISBN 0-7591-0688-6. This excellent interdisciplinary book by anthropologist Micha . . .

Economic Transition in Central Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Economic Transition in Central Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States Tomasz Mickiewicz Palgrave MacMillan: London and New York, 2006, xviii + 214 pp., index. $90. Tomasz Mickiewicz . . .

The Arab Economies in a Changing World.
The Arab Economies in a Changing World Marcus Noland and Howard Pack Petersen Institute: Washington, DC, 2007, $24.95, 313pp. This book 'provides an integrated politico-economic analysis of Ar . . .

13th Dubrovnik Economic Conference symposium.(Symposium Introduction)(Conference news)
The Croatian National Bank's annual Dubrovnik conferences are a mainstay for research on a changing world economy. The tradition established by the Central Bank of Croatia continued with the 13th Du . . .

Bank regulations are changing: for better or worse?(Symposium Paper)(Report)
INTRODUCTION Is the bank-regulatory environment in countries improving and making financial systems more efficient and stable? A decade after the East Asian crisis and the ever-growing importance . . .

Lessons from financial liberalisation in Scandinavia.(Symposium Paper)
INTRODUCTION This study examines the causes and consequences of the financial crises that hit the Scandinavian or Nordic countries in the early 1990s and extracts lessons from this experience. (1) . . .

Are weak banks leading credit booms? Evidence from emerging Europe.(Symposium Paper)(Report)
INTRODUCTION In an environment of brisk credit growth, supervisors tend to watch carefully whether weak banks are starting to expand rapidly. (1) Sounder banks may have a competitive advantage in . . .

Central bank institutional structure and effective central banking: cross-country empirical evidence.(Symposium Paper)(Report)
INTRODUCTION Over the last decade, the legal and institutional frameworks governing central banks and financial market regulatory authorities throughout the world have undergone significant change . . .

The impact of the USD/EUR exchange rate on inflation in the Central and East European countries.(Symposium Paper)(United States
INTRODUCTION During the last few years, there has been growing empirical support for the idea that external factors might have a leading role in explaining business cycles in small open economies. . . .

From Illyria towards capitalism: did labour-management theory teach us anything about Yugoslavia and transition in its successor
JEL Classifications: J54, O52, P13, P37, P52 INTRODUCTION In 1958, Benjamin Ward published his seminal paper, 'The Firm in Illyria: Market Syndicalism'. He suggested that some Eastern European e . . .

The Piratisation of Russia: Russian Reform Goes Awry.(Book review)
The Piratisation of Russia: Russian Reform Goes Awry Marshall I. Goldman London and New York, Routledge, 2003, 289 pp. For Vladimir Putin the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991 represented 'th . . .

Performance and Strategies of Banks in Transition Economies.(Book review)
Performance and Strategies of Banks in Transition Economies Rainer Haselmann Metropolis-Verlag: Marburg, 2006, 226pp. This study applies a methodology usually applied to bank performance in es . . .

External Liberalization in Asia, Post-Socialist Europe, and Brazil.(Book review)
External Liberalization in Asia, Post-Socialist Europe, and Brazil Lance Taylor (ed). Oxford University Press: New York, NY, 2006, 528pp. This edited volume offers detailed accounts of the exp . . .

Institutions, Development and Economic Growth.(Book review)
Institutions, Development and Economic Growth Theo S. Eicher and Cecilia Garcia-Penalosa (eds). CESifo Seminar Series, The MIT Press: Cambridge, MA, 2006, pp. 293, index. While economic theory . . .

Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity.(Book review)
Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity William J. Baumol, Robert E. Litan and Carl J. Schramm, Yale University Press: New Haven, CT, 2007, pp. x, 321, index, . . .

The Russian Economy: From Lenin to Putin.(Book review)
The Russian Economy: From Lenin to Putin Steven Rosefielde Blackwell Publishing: Malden, MA, 2007, xvi + 260pp., $69.95. ISBN 13:978-1-4051-1337-3 (hardcover). In this textbook, Steven Rosef . . .

The Challenges of Sustained Development: The Role of Socio-Cultural Factors in East-Central Europe.(Book review)
The Challenges of Sustained Development: The Role of Socio-Cultural Factors in East-Central Europe Frane Adam, Matej Makarovic, Borut Roncevic and Matevz Tomsic Central European University: Budape . . .

The Oxford Handbook of Entrepreneurship.(Book review)
The Oxford Handbook of Entrepreneurship Mark Casson, Bernard Yeung, Anuradha Basu and Nigel Wadeson Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 89 [pounds sterling], 808pp, 2006. Both an important re . . .

Famine in North Korea. Markets, Aid, and Reform.(Book review)
Famine in North Korea. Markets, Aid, and Reform Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland Columbia University Press: New York, NY, 2007, pp. 309, $35. Index. ISBN: 0231 140 002 This is an excellent . . .

Inequality, Cooperation and Environmental Sustainability.(Book review)
Inequality, Cooperation and Environmental Sustainability Jean-Marie Baland, Pranab Bardhan and Samuel Bowles (eds) Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ, 2007.357pp, $35, ISBN:0.91-12879-0. . . .

Association for comparative economic studies - 2009 meetings.(Association News)
The programme for the Association's Meetings in San Francisco in January 2009 is now available on the Association's website http://www.acesecon.org/. . . .

Zora Pryor.(Association News)(Obituary)(Brief article)
The Association notes with regret that Zora Pryor, a longtime member of the Association, passed away on 23 August 2008. She was the author of monographs oil the labour force of Bulgaria and of Polan . . .

Reforming China's SOEs: an overview.(state-owned industrial enterprises )(Report)
INTRODUCTION Since China began its long march from the ultra-left socialism of the Mao years toward more market-embracing policies in 1979, its economy has logged the longest sustained period of r . . .

Information sharing in credit markets: incentives for incorrect information reporting.(Symposium Paper)(Report)
INTRODUCTION Information about borrowers represents an asset of a certain value in the market for bank loans. A bank's client who enjoys the advantages of bank loan over time and who repays fully . . .

Inflation targeting in emerging economies: prerequisites, policies and outcomes.(Introduction to the Symposium)(Report)
The creation and maturation of financial institutions in transition and emerging economies has been of central importance in their economic development over the last decade. Because policies are ins . . .

Inflation targeting in Armenia: monetary policy in transition.(Symposium Paper)(Report)
INTRODUCTION As the economic structure and institutions of transition economies of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union have evolved so have their economic policies. Initially all had fiscal . . .

Advancing inflation targeting in Central Europe: strategies, policy rules and empirical evidence.(Symposium Paper)(Report)
INTRODUCTION There are three distinct stages in the institutional evolution of monetary policies in Central and East European Countries (CEECs) as the major objectives of monetary policy itself ev . . .