Is the economic reform of Central Europe influenced by or an influence upon capital markets? Where does globalization fit in? Ken Morita's pioneering work investigates the relationship between the systemic transition of Central European economies and capital markets, in particular the commodity futures markets and speculation.

The Czech Republic and Economic Transition in Eastern Europe is the first in-depth, comparative analysis of the Czech Republic's economic transition after the fall of the Communist bloc. Edited by Jan Svejnar,a principal architect of the Czech economic transformation and Economic Advisor to President Vaclav Havel, the book poses important questions about the Republic and its partners in Central and Eastern Europe. The thirty-five essayists describe the country's macroeconomic performance; its development of capital markets; the structure and performance of its industries; its unemployment, household behavior, and income distribution; and the environmental and health issues it faces.In this in-depth, comparative analysis of the Czech Republic's economic transition, an international team of thirty-five economists examine the Republic and its partners in Central and Eastern Europe. Important questions and issues permeate the essays. For example, prior to 1939 the Czech Republic possessed the most advanced economy in the region; is it capable of reestablishing its dominance? Relative to its neighbors, the Republic ranks especially high on some transition-related performance indicators but low on others. What economic effects are related to the 1993 dissolution of the Czech and Slovak governments? And what can be learned by comparing the economic outcomes of two countries that shared legal and institutional frameworks? Data describe the country's macroeconomic performance; its development of capital markets; the structure and performance of its industries; its unemployment, household behavior, and income distribution; and the environmental and health issues facing it. Its most important contributions are its clarifications of the transition process.The authors included in Transforming Czechoslovakia combine the best available data and techniques of economic analysis to assess the replacement of the inefficient but internally consistent central planning system with a more efficient market system. These authors, among whom are central European economic analysts, senior U.S. economists, and Czechoslovakian professors and economic researchers, discuss the country's macroeconomic performance; its development of capital markets; the structure and performance of its industries; its unemployment, household behavior, and income distribution; and the environmental and health issues facing it. The essays vary between presentations of history and policy and technical examinations of data. Together they offer the most comprehensive and detailed assessment of the country's economic transformation in print.This book is important because its essayists compile results and reach conclusions that are broad and credible. The empirical data were gathered on the ground and have been subjected to advanced methodologies, including game theory, industrial organization, and Granger-Sims causality.

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.

Experts from economics, finance, law, policy, and banking discuss the design and implementation of a future capital market union in Europe. The plan for further development of Europe's economic and monetary union foresees the creation of a capital market union (CMU)—a single market for capital in the entire Eurozone. The need for citizens and firms of all European countries to have access to funding, together with the pressure to improve the efficiency and risk-sharing opportunities of the financial system in general, put the CMU among the top priorities on the Eurozone's agenda. In this volume, leading academics in economics, finance, and law, along with policy makers and practitioners, discuss the design and implementation of a future CMU. Contributors describe the key design challenges of the CMU; specific opportunities and obstacles for reaching the CMU's goals of increasing the economic well-being of households and the profitability and viability of firms; the role that markets—from the latest fintech developments to traditional equity markets—can play in the future success of CMU; and the institutional framework needed for CMU in the aftermath of the global recession. Contributors Sumit Agarwal, Franklin Allen, Valentina Allotti, Gene Amromin, John Armour, Geert Bekaert, Itzhak Ben-David, Marcello Bianchi, Lorenzo Bini-Smaghi, Claudio Borio, Franziska Bremus, Marina Brogi, Claudia M. Buch, Giacomo Calzolari, Souphala Chomsisengphet, Luca Enriques, Douglas D. Evanoff, Ester Faia, Eilis Ferran, Jeffrey N. Gordon, Michael Haliassos, Campbell R. Harvey, Kathryn Judge, Suzanne Kalss, Valentina Lagasio, Katya Langenbucher, Christian T. Lundblad, Massimo Marchesi, Alexander Michaelides, Stefano Micossi, Emanuel Moench, Mario Nava, Giorgio Barba Navaretti, Giovanna Nicodano, Gianmarco Ottaviano, Marco Pagano, Monica Paiella, Lubos Pastor, Alain Pietrancosta, Richard Portes, Alberto Franco Pozzolo, Stephan Siegel, Wolfe-Georg Ringe, Diego Valiante

The authors challenge widespread beliefs that business accounting practices are neutral and involve the mere reporting of objective data, revealing how easily balance sheets can be manipulated.

This book contains 21 papers focusing on a wide range of issues concerning financial sector transition in the countries of Europe and Central Asia (ECA). It places the transition economies in the context of recent and prospective developments in global financial markets. This book also evaluates the experience of the last 10 years and reviews the progress from a command financial system to a market-based one, identifying some of the key characteristics of the financial transition.