Privatization in Eastern Europe: Is the State Withering Away?

by Roman Frydman, Andrzej Rapaczynski, A. Rapaczynski

Overview

In Eastern Europe privatization is now a mass phenomenon. The authors propose a model of it by means of an illustration from the example of Poland, which envisages the free provision of shares in formerly public undertakings to employees and consumers, and the provision of corporate finance from foreign intermediaries. One danger that emerges is that of bureaucratization. On the broader canvas, mass privatization implies the reform of the whole system, the creation of a suitable economic infrastructure for a market economy and the institutions of corporate governance. The authors point out the need for a delicate balance between evolution - which may be too slow - and design - which brings the risk of more government involvement than it is able to manage. A chapter originating as a European Bank working paper explores the banking implications of setting up a totally new financial sector with interlocking classes of assets. The economic effects merge into politics as the role of the state is investigated. Teachers and graduate students of public/private sector economies, East European affairs; advisers to bankers or commercial companies with Eastern European interests.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781858660042
Publisher:	Central European University Press
Publication date:	01/01/1994
Series:	Central European University Press Books Series
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.26(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Andrzej Rapaczynski is Daniel G. Ross Professor of Law; Joseph Solomon Professor of Wills, Trusts, and Estate Planning at the Columbia Law School.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements
Foreword by Edmund S. Phelps
Introduction
1. Markets and Institutions in Large-Scale Privatization: An Approach to Economic and Social Transformation in Eastern Europe
2. Privatization and Corporate Governance: Can a Market Economy Be Designed?
3. Evolution and Design in the East European Transition
4. Corporate Control and Financial Reform
5. Insiders and the State
6. Ambiguity of Privatization and the Paths of Transition to a Private Property Regime
Bibliography
Index