Institutional Change in Transition Economies

Michael Cuddy, Ph.D. North Carolina State University Lecturer and Professor of Economics at NUI, Galway 1971 - present; Visiting Professor at University of Arizona, North Carolina State University and Pennsylvania State University, University of Rennes and University of Bonn. International Economic Consultant in Regional and Rural Development. Ruvin Gekker, Ph.D. University of California, Irvine Assistant Professor of Economics at York University in Toronto, Canada 1987 - 1995 Lecturer in Economics at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK 1995 - 1999 Lecturer in Economics at the National University of Ireland, Galway, 1999 - present. Research interests include Public Choice/ Social Choice, Applied Game Theory and Economics of Transition.

• Contents: Institutional Changes in the Russian Economy: The Russian economy: market in form but ’feudal’ in content?, Richard E. Ericson; Corruption and organized crime in the Russian transition, Jim Leitzel; Strong institutions are more important than the speed of reforms, Vladimir Popov; An evolutionary analysis of Russia’s virtual economy, Clifford Gaddy and Barry W. Ickes; Russia’s economic policy at the beginning of the new phase, Vladimir Mau. Taxation in Transition Economies: The tax system and the peculiarities of the Russian economy, Michael V. Alexeev; Soft budget constraints and tax arrears in transition economies, Ruvin Gekker; Effective versus statutory taxation: measuring effective tax administration in transition economies, Mark E. Schaffer and Gerard Turley. Regional Developments and Institutional Reforms: Regional disparities and transfer policies in Russia: theory and evidence, Era Dabla-Norris and Shlomo Weber; Regional development theory and policy: and example for Russia?, Michael Cuddy and Sarah Callanan. Index.

’Students of transition economics, especially of Russia, will welcome this valuable addition to the literature. The collection, originally presented at the National University of Ireland by an international group of scholars, focuses on institutional change, taxation and regional disparities in Russia's transition. The contributions are original and by world-class economists.’ James Millar, George Washington University, Washington, USA 'This is a useful and interesting book which highlights the importance of institutions in Russia's economic transition, at the same time providing a basis for the examination of instituions in other, and not necessarily ex-socialist, countries.' Slovonic and East European Review