Early transition was characterized by debate over shock therapy and gradualism as alternative reform strategies. Other important debates concerned the nature of the former USSR. Was it ever Socialist and what were its laws of motion? What implications does the old system have for the course of post-communist reforms? These are among the key issues analysed in this book, through a mix of conceptual analysis and an interesting selection of country studies.

BOB ARNOT Department of Economics, Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland PAWEL BOZYK Warsaw, Poland; Former Finance Minister of the Polish People's Republic HARMAN W. HOEN Faculty of Economics, University of Groningen, The Netherlands MASAAKI KUBONIWA Professor, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, Japan VLADIMER PAPAVA P.Gugushivili Institute of Economics, The Georgian Academy of Sciences, Tbilisi, Georgia JOSEPH L.POKET Ruislip, Middlesex, England STEVEN ROSEFIELDE Professor, Department of Economics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA VAL SAMONIS Professor, Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Toronto, Canada HILLEL H. TICKTIN Institute of Russian and East European Studies, University of Glasgow, Scotland.

General Editor's Introduction Contributors Overview; P.G.Hare PART I: SYSTEMATIC CHANGE Gradualism versus Shock Therapy; P.Bozyk 'Shock versus Gradualism': The Inappropriateness of the Labels Applied to the Strategies in Central Europe; H.W.Hoen The Visible Versus the Invisible Hand: A Tension Inherent in the Post-Communist Transformation; J.L.Porket Road Maps to Markets: Issues in the Theory of the Post-Communist Transformation; V.Samonis Russian Output Drop in Early Transition: Macro- and Micro-Economic Implications; M.Kuboniwa PART II: COUNTRY STUDIES Polish Economic Reforms in Japanese Historical Perspective; K.Morita Theories of Disintegration of the USSR; H.H.Tickin The Political Problems of Economic Transformation in Post-Communist Russia; V.Mau Western Economists and the Transition Process in Russia; B.Arnot Russia's Economic Recovery Potential to the Year 2000; S.Rosefielde The Georgian Economy: Main Directions and Initial Results of Reforms; V.Papava Index