From the Guest Co-Editors

Abstract

Historically, the family has been the societal unit that has had to adjust to changing economic conditions over which it has little or no control. The papers in this issue of the Journal of Family and Economic Issues focus on the general theme of household responses to major macroeconomic change. The first three papers focus on changes occurring in the shift from planned economies to market economies in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Earl W. Morris presents the theoretical framework that has guided work we have done with colleagues at the Warsaw Agricultural University. Professor Teresa Palaszewska-Reindl, one of our colleagues at that institution, traces the history of the events leading up to the transformation in Poland and documents the effects of the transformation on Polish families. Charles B. Hennon and his colleagues present a model to foster the development of family enterprises in Central and Eastern Europe, enterprises viewed by many as essential if countries are to accomplish the transformation successfully. In the final paper in this issue, W. Jean Yeung and Sandra L. Hofferth at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research use the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to document family responses to major economic setbacks. Taken together, the papers are an interesting mix of theory and research on the responses of households to changes beyond their immediate control. We are deeply indebted to Dr. Ivan F. Beutler, Brigham Young University; Dr. Luann Gaskill, Iowa State University; Dr. Sherman D. Hanna, The Ohio State University; Dr. Charles B. Hennon, Miami University of Ohio; Dr. Ramona Marotz-Baden, Montana State University; Dr. Deanna L. Sharpe, University of Missouri-Columbia; Dr. Dan Weigel, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension; and Dr. Man Wilhelm, University of Arizona for serving as reviewers of the papers in this special issue. Their comments were essential in assisting the authors shape their papers for the audience of the Journal of Family and Economic Issues.