From Transition to the European Integration: Institutional Transformation of the Countries inCentral and Eastern Europe

After two decades of transition we have theopportunity to assess this ongoing and in many waysunique historical process. Furthermore, many lessonsfrom the large-scale institutional transformation canbe mutatis mutandis applied in the developedcountries as they approach their own institutionaland social policy reforms.In the context of the countries in transition it isimportant to understand that the mere emulation ofinstitutions from the advanced economies does notautomatically yield similar results in terms ofefficiency, competition and development. The aim of the analysis is to explore the realpotential of the countries and the societies ofCentral and Eastern Europe. It is a potential that,according to my thesis, has not been fully realizedin the past decade.The main argument is that institutions and theirinteraction appear as a determinant to the behaviorof social actors. As such, this analysis indicatesthat any future reform attempts in the developed orthe developing part of the world could be executedwith greater efficiency and with lesser social andeconomic costs.