Introduction: Transition from communism - qualified success or utter catastrophe? -- The plan for a J-curve transition -- Plan meets reality -- Modifying the framework -- Counter-narratives of catastrophe -- Where have all the people gone? -- The mortality crisis -- Collapse in fertility -- Outmigration crisis -- Disappointment with transition -- Public opinion of winners and losers -- Evaluations shift over time -- Towards a new social contract? -- Portraits of desperation -- Resistance is futile -- Return to the past -- The patriotism of despair -- Conclusion: Towards an inclusive prosperity.

I study the preferences for redistribution in Eastern Europe. After the collapse of communism c. 1990, preferences for redistribution did not decrease by 2000, and if anything, they increased. One explanation is the so-called “public values effect”: individual beliefs shape preferences for redistribution. East Europeans continue to believe that it is the responsibility of the state to provide for the poor, and hence, they prefer redistribution. Income and expected income also affect preferences for redistribution but to a lesser degree than relative income and income history. The 'winners' of the transition, i.e., those who are better off after the collapse of communism, prefer less redistribution.

Winner of the Donner Prize for the best book on public policy by a Canadian in 2014.Whenever governments change policies - tax, expenditure, or regulatory policies, among others - there will typically be losers: people or groups who relied upon and invested in physical, financial, or human capital predicated on, or even deliberately induced by the pre-reform set of policies. Theissue of whether and when to mitigate the costs associated with policy changes, either through explicit government compensation, grandfathering, phased or postponed implementation, is ubiquitous across the policy landscape. Much of the existing literature covers government takings, yet compensationfor expropriation comprises merely a tiny part of the universe of such strategies.Dealing with Losers: The Political Economy of Policy Transitions explores both normative and political rationales for transition cost mitigation strategies and explains which strategies might create an aggregate, overall enhancement in societal welfare beyond mere compensation. Professor Michael J.Trebilcock highlights the political rationales for mitigating such costs and the ability of potential losers to mobilize and obstruct socially beneficial changes in the absence of well-crafted transition cost mitigation strategies. This book explores the political economy of transition costmitigation strategies in a wide variety of policy contexts including public pensions, U.S. home mortgage interest deductions, immigration, trade liberalization, agricultural supply management, and climate change, providing tested examples and realistic strategies for genuine policy reform.

The transition to a market economy has produced a substantial and rapid change in the wage structure in Russia. Household surveys taken before and after the transition indicate that overall wage inequality nearly doubled from 1991 to 1994 and has reached a level higher than that in the United States. Returns to both measured skills (education, occupation) and unmeasured skills within groups have increased considerably. Skill premiums across experience groups, however, have become more compressed and relative wages of older workers have declined. In addition, female wages have delined relative to male wages across all percentiles of the wage distribution.

A tale of technological revolutions, human evolution and the potential for a utopian or dystopian future. The impact of the next wave on business, the economy, society and the future of humanity. A unique book of three intwined parts that bring together history, economics, business theory, social commentary, disruptive technology and futurism