GOVERNMENTS AND COMPETITIVENESS IN CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE Available to Purchase

Newly emerging democracies in central and Eastern Europe face a painful task of making the transition from central planning to a market economy. They urgently need modern technology and the knowledge of Western business practices to accomplish their goals of stimulating economic development and joining the industrialized nations as equal partners in global trade. In the past, government control of the economy, subsidies for unprofitable state enterprises, lack of market competition, and guaranteed employment created an environment without incentives to modernize technology or improve productivity (Gomulka, 1994).