Central East European Countries Research Articles

Soviet Policy, Political Parties, and the Preparation for Communist Takeovers in Hungary, Germany, and Austria, 1944-1946

A large number of similarities can be seen between Soviet and communist activities following World War II in Germany and Austria and in East Central European countries such as Hungary, which were later entirely incorporated into the Soviet bloc. In both cases, Moscow-trained communists aimed at establishing “people’s democracy” and took a leading role in rebuilding the respective country’s adminis-trative apparatus. However, while they managed, with Soviet support, to take over power in Hungary, they failed to do so in Austria. In Germany, communist and Soviet action contributed to the partition of the country. This article, on the basis of Soviet and German documents, draws the conclusion that the main reason for the success or failure of communist takeover was the Soviet factor: the power Soviet authorities had in the respective countries and the priority they assigned to communist takeover.

Makedoniens haltande demokratiseringsprocess

Macedonia is one of the new countries of East-Central Europe that dreamt of democracy and a return to Europe following the collapse of communism. The dream persists, but progress towards its realization has so far been slow. The triple transition needed in the transformation of Macedonia into a stable liberal democracy is not yet fully implemented - the country remains a grey-zone democracy struggling to deal with a weak economy and lingering ethnic tensions. The article explores Macedonia's triple transition and explains why the transformation has been so difficult. It is argued that Macedonia's transitional problems are likely to persist for some time and that the political trajectory has still to be determined. Macedonia will need to progress in all three transitional dimensions if the country is to reach its goal of future membership of the European Union and NATO.

Vertical intra-industry trade, technology and income distribution: A panel data analysis of EU trade with Central-East European countries

This paper tests a neo-Heckscher-Ohlin versus a neo-Ricardian framework for explaining vertical intra-industry trade. The study applies panel techniques with instrument variables to analyse trade between ‘old’ EU and 10 Central-East European countries in their post-transition period. Results show country-pair fixed effects to be of high relevance for explaining vertical intra-industry trade. Technology differences are positively, while differences in factor endowment, measured in GDP per capita, are negatively correlated with vertical intra-industry trade, and confirm the relevance of the neo-Ricardian approach. In addition, changing bilateral differences in personal income distribution during the transition of Central-East European countries towards a market economy contribute to changes in vertical intra-industry trade.

Romania's Roma Population: From Marginality to Social Integration

Among several groups vulnerable to discrimination in 21st century Europe, Roma loom large because the poorer, traditionally-minded elements continue to resist integration and remain on the margins of society. Most of the people involved have become EU citizens as a result of recent accession by East Central European countries where marginalisation has been tolerated, with varying degrees of discrimination, ever since the 19th century abolition of feudalism. In the interest of a more inclusive society, Roma are now being encouraged to strive for living standards comparable with those enjoyed by the mainstream population. This paper concentrates on Romania, which has one of the largest Roma communities in Europe. We profile the situation with some reference to regional geographies and previous policy history. We examine the key concepts relevant to marginality, arguing for an element of self-exclusion, because while many Roma elements have been successfully assimilated over the years, a large residual element insists on preserving elements of ‘identity’, implying separation from the mainstream in terms of the modernising ethos and the rule of law. The main thrust of the paper rests with a comprehensive programme to improve the condition of the Roma community as a major element among a number of other factors which are working towards the same objective. We give particular attention to the education programme that is now making significant progress.

Transport aspects of international collaboration in Central East European countries

The article is devoted to the development of economic and organizational aspects of international transportation system, and international transport corridors particularly, which is the very important constituent of successful international economic relations between countries and assists activation of international ties between West&East Europe and Asia.

Envelope wages in Central and Eastern Europe and the EU

This article reports the first cross-national evaluation of the prevalence of a little discussed wage arrangement where formal employers pay their formal employees two wages, one declared and the other an undeclared ‘envelope wage’. Analysing the results of a 2007 survey conducted in the 27 European Union member states, the finding is that some 5% of employees in formal employment receive an additional undeclared wage from their formal employer which amounts on average to some two-fifths of their wage packet. However, this employment practice is found to be markedly more prevalent in East-Central European countries, where some 11% of formal employees receive an undeclared wage and this is more often paid for their regular employment hours, which is in stark contrast to Continental Europe and Nordic countries, where such wages are less common and received mostly for overtime or extra work performed. The article concludes by discussing how this neglected but nevertheless significant practice might be tackled.

International mobility of jobs—Diversion from Western to Eastern locations?

This contribution discusses to what extent the expansion of German firms in Central East European (CEE) leads to FDI diversion from traditional host countries. Diversion is defined as reduction of FDI in absolute terms in traditional host regions as a consequence of expansion in CEE countries. The analysis is based on a Bundesbank micro data set (MIDI). The data indicate that expansion in the East is complementary rather than substitutive to FDI at traditional locations both in the EU periphery and the Core EU. Firms expanding foreign operations in general do so at CEE locations as well as in Western and Southern Europe. Poor performance at traditional locations in Western and Southern Europe rarely goes along with expansion in the East. Mobility of production and jobs from traditional to “new” locations is limited. There is strong heterogeneity of FDI firms to be observed with regard to employment performance in the regions considered.

The year 1009: St Bruno of Querfurt between Poland and Rus'

This paper deals with the last mission of St Bruno of Querfurt (d.9 March 1009) which has received controversial treatment from a number of scholars working independently of each other. This state of affairs may be explained not only by reference to different preferences of scholarly research in the countries of east-central Europe, but also to the fact that the very sources of the martyrdom are rather problematic in themselves. Our research has shown that accounts produced by Peter Damian or Ademar of Chabannes must be taken more seriously than was the case up to now, since they provide details that, taken together with other sources, show that the martyrdom in question caused a mutual rivalry between Polish and Rus'ian rulers, Boleslaw and Vladimir, for the benefits that might have been derived from St Bruno's glorious death and possession of his relics. It is also to be emphasised that St Bruno's last mission was most promising to the local ruler named Nethimer who received baptism but finally failed to secure the gains of his new status as a Christian ruler. This tug of war between Polish and Rus' rulers may, at least in part, account for the fact that after some initial steps the incipient cult of St Bruno became extinct in their respective countries and his memory was condemned to the long centuries of virtual oblivion.

Using Mortality Data to Refine Our Understanding of Homicide Patterns in Select Postcommunist Countries

This article uses mortality data from the World Health Organization to provide a descriptive overview of the patterns and trends of homicides in a select group of East-Central European countries. It compares homicide rates across 10 countries during a period of profound social changes. The data show that homicide rates in East-Central Europe during the communist period were higher than in Western Europe and were increasing even before the fall of communism in 1989. Postcommunist homicide trends increased in all the countries, but there was considerable variation in the magnitude, timing, and duration of the rising trends across countries. The demographic characteristics of homicide victims show that middle-aged men are generally the most vulnerable group to experience homicide in East-Central Europe. Discussion about the sociohistorical context of these countries and the nature of the postcommunist transformations is provided to interpret the descriptive findings and offer suggestions for further empirical research.

Corruption in Contemporary Spain

Interest in the links between corruption and politics has increased significantly since the early 1990s. Although the public widely sees corruption as a phenomenon that particularly afflicts the developing world—as reflected in the growing emphasis placed on anti-corruption initiatives by such international agencies as the World Bank, IMF, OECD, and Transparency International—the issue is also attracting significant attention in established democracies. Politicians, civil society activists, and media commentators have expressed concerns about a host of high-profile scandals contributing to a decline of trust in the political class, whilst a perceived “culture of corruption” in several of the post-communist countries of east-central Europe is seen as an obstacle to their full integration into the European Union. Indeed, corruption has started to become a powerful policy narrative in many countries, blamed for a host of shortcomings in democracies and non-democracies alike (Heywood and Krastev 2006).

Industrial Policy in the New Member Countries of the European Union: A Survey of Patterns and Initiatives Since 1990

The transitional recession in the new Central and East European members of the EU called for completely novel approaches to industrial policy in the nineties. A strong rejection of industrial policy could be observed only in some countries and during the first years of the transition process. Subsequently however, deteriorating competitiveness, soaring unemployment and the dramatic condition of key export sectors made the re-appearance of supply-side economic policy thinking inevitable in most Central East European Countries (CEECs), except for such small and open economies as Slovenia and Estonia. A wide variety of industrial policies implemented in the CEECs are compared in the study, with special emphasis on tools used in order to promote incoming foreign direct investment, technological development and the small and medium-sized enterprise sector. These elements of the industrial policy toolkit will keep their key role in most CEECs, albeit their industrial policies will gradually align themselves to the European mainstream.

Unemployment in East and West Europe

We use new 1991–2005 panel data to address the issue of unemployment in Central-East Europe. We compare the evolution of unemployment, its dynamics and related phenomena in five former communist economies in the Central Europe and use the geographically close West Germany as a benchmark for a mature market economy. We identify the differences and similarities in the evolution of the key labor market variables and contrast different outcomes with the diverse initial conditions and subsequent paths. All countries have experienced aggregate demand shocks, structural shocks and hysteresis. Despite diverse initial conditions and subsequent paths, the patterns observed are surprisingly similar. The eastern part of Germany appears to be a special case with extraordinary high unemployment inflows. Contrary to the theoretical models, in the transition economies we do not observe an initially rapid rise in the inflow rate, followed by a convergence of this rate to the levels of market economies. Rather, there is a relatively gradual rise in the inflow rate towards the level of market economies. The differences in unemployment rates turn out to be attributable to a considerable extent to the actual differences in the inflow rates. The trajectories in the unemployment-vacancy space observed in the Central-East European countries increasingly resemble those observed in the developed market economies. Interestingly, these similarities arise despite differences in the institutional setting across these economies.

Piotr Piotrowski <i>Awangarda w cieniu Jałty. Sztuka w Europie środkowo-wschodniej w latach 1945–89</i> (Avant-Garde in the Shadow of Yalta. Art in East-Central Europe, 1945–1989) 2005.

Mieczysław Porębski, a distinguished Polish art historian of the 20th century, once expressed the demand for Polish art history to be researched simultaneously with foreign studies - as parallel fields. "We entered the research field of the old masters' art as partners in, so to say, a ‘furnished household', whereas in the field of contemporary art we are co-explorers, exploring a ‘virgin land'", as Porębski put it. The book by professor Piotr Piotrowski Awangarda w cieniu Jałty. Sztuka w Europie środkowo-wschodniej w latach 1945-89 (The Avant-Garde in the Shadow of Yalta. The Art in East-Central Europe, 1945-1989) fully accomplishes this demanding postulate which nowadays seems to be rather rarely remembered by Polish art historians. The explored area, the East-Central European countries, which emerged, as a result of the Yalta Conference, between the iron curtain and the border of The Soviet Union (including former Yugoslavia) appears at least as an ‘old maiden' land, where scientific penetration still seems to be necessary.

Integration of Unequal Units: Comparing the German and the European Unification Processes

Based on the differentiation between ‘specific’ and ‘diffuse’ support for political systems, as set out by Easton (1965), the objective of this article is to analyse the reasons for the increased discussion of conflicting interests and different identities in two integration processes: (1) the European one – Western and East Central European countries, focusing on the example of Poland; and (2) the case of Germany – East and West. It is assumed that these two cases are structured similarly and, therefore, can be compared regarding structures of centre and periphery and the differences they symbolise. This article suggests that if relations within the ‘frame of integration’ are perceived as correlating systematically with asymmetrical structures, then feelings of discontent and reactions of protest and resistance may be favoured in peripheries and can lead to exclusive forms of collective identity-construction.

The State of Women's and Gender History in Eastern Europe: The Case of Hungary

The State of Women's and Gender History in Eastern Europe:The Case of Hungary Andrea Pető (bio) and Judith Szapor (bio) In November 2003 fourteen women academics, all members of the Hungarian Historical Association (HHA), signed the founding charter for a section of Women's and Gender History, only to be voted down by the general assembly of the Association. A year and a half later the new section was finally incorporated, but with the understanding that it should not expect any financial or organizational support from the HHA.1 This episode is characteristic of the state of women's and gender history in Hungary today: it demonstrates the infrastructural vacuum and institutional resistance against which a few committed practitioners of women's and gender history have been struggling to establish a foothold. To attribute this lamentable situation to patriarchal power structures in academia would not do justice to the complex origins and motives of this resistance; here we can highlight only a few of them. Mainstream Hungarian historiography had long been known for its resistance to theory in general and reluctance to break with the positivist tradition in particular. From at least the late nineteenth century, representatives of the historical profession had been tied to the political leadership of the day to a degree unthinkable for Western academics. The tradition of antidemocratic political leaders and their ideologies willingly supported by leading historians continued after 1945, with the relationship between power and academia becoming even cozier, and the uses of history harnessed more directly than ever before. Shortly after 1945, a complete overhaul of academic infrastructure resulted in Soviet-style institutes, staffed with the best and the brightest but judged politically unreliable to teach. With a strict control of university personnel and curriculum, the artificial separation of the teaching and research of history had been thus complete.2 Yet for all its revolutionary zeal, when it came to women as subjects of history, the new, Marxist historiography displayed a remarkable continuity with the old, nationalistic historiography. Their respective pantheon of eminent women almost completely overlapped, from the heroines of the centuries of battles for independence to the writers and educators of the Hungarian Enlightenment and progressive national revival. To these were added the heroines of progressive causes of the recent past, with a few pioneers of women's emancipation thrown in for good measure. In keeping with this curious continuity, the new, Marxist version of Hungarian historiography buried even deeper the memory of the bourgeois women's rights movement of the [End Page 160] early 1900s than the prewar Horthy regime. After all, was not "the woman question" superseded and solved, once and for all, by the Marxist-Leninist state and "statist feminism," and bourgeois feminism, along with the liberal notion of women's rights, condemned to the dustbin of history? Following the deep freeze of the Stalinist years, from the late 1970s the historical profession experienced a gradual renewal while the university curriculum kept lagging behind. During this period, historical research benefited from a relative liberalization of academia, marked by increased tolerance for East-West academic relations, the rehabilitation of the previously banished field of sociology, and interdisciplinary methodologies in general. In the early 1980s, the historian Péter Hanák led a charge on the traditional, positivist, and vulgar Marxist frameworks, challenging the long-entrenched divisions of political, ethnic, social, and economic history. He reintroduced cultural and intellectual history and inspired a host of younger scholars to embark on the study of urbanization, domesticity, and the family.3 With the establishment of a chair of Cultural Studies, he even managed to break the seemingly unassailable walls of Budapest University. Around the same time, the methodologies of economic history, historical demography, and sociology embraced by historians paid dividends in investigations into the roots of economic and social modernization, including historical studies on women's employment and specific female occupations.4 Meanwhile, historians of the medieval and early modern period quietly joined the Annales-influenced European mainstream with studies on witches and female saints.5 The widespread influence of the Annales—as in other East-Central European countries in the period of state socialism—while indicative of the traditional...

Embattled executives: Prime ministerial weakness in East Central Europe

In a period in which “strong” and even “presidential” prime ministers have arguably become more the rule than the exception in the major states of Western Europe, most prime ministers in the new democracies of East Central Europe appear to have been relatively weak figures. This article investigates the reasons for that relative weakness in the ten East Central European countries, which together have had 87 prime ministers in the 16 years since the fall of Communism. It evaluates several possible explanations: party system weakness, the institutional structure, elite recruitment patterns, and policy constraints. It then seeks to explain several notable exceptions to the prime ministerial weakness rule.

Market Reform and Social Protection: Lessons from the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland

The countries of East Central Europe stand out as examples of the advantages of early and successful transitions to the market. Besides being early reformers, these countries also moved unusually quickly toward the establishment of broad social protection programs intended to cushion the shocks of the transition and to provide some longer-term protection against the uncertainties of the market economy. The success of these strategies has been uneven in terms of their impact on fiscal resources and their overall effect on the distribution of income. However, they must also be assessed in terms of the support they have generated for political and economic system among economically vulnerable but politically influential middle-class, blue-collar, and rural social sectors. In the countries of Central Europe, social transfers directed toward such groups have helped to win their acquiescence to painful adjustments and have facilitated longer-term support for democratic politics.

Advanced services and city globalization on the Eastern fringe of Europe

Capital cities in East Central and Eastern European Countries (ECEEC) are changing rapidly. Since the 1990s, the ECEEC capitals have faced the double challenge of the market (the transition process) and of integration in the world economy (the globalization process), which supposes a sufficient development of coordination functions and thus of advanced services concentrated in these cities (city globalization). Their capacity to join the network of global cities is evaluated on the basis of their relative specializations in advanced services and their connections with the rest of the world. The comparative analysis leads to contrasted globalization perspectives. Thus, Budapest, Prague and Warsaw show signs of city globalization while Bucharest and Sofia are hampered by historical, geographical and institutional factors.

Social costs of consumer impatience in Hungary

In several catching-up Central East European (CEE) countries we experience an expenditure boom explained by arguments referring to intertemporal consumption optimization. We have calibrated a model assuming externalities from foreign direct investment and country risk premium dependent on the debt/GDP ratio. In the model the internal real rate of return of marginal saving turned out to be about 10–15%, higher than what any estimate of the time preference might justify. This result comes from the two externalities, saving and foreign direct investment, which are not internalized by private agents. This calls for savings policy to make the necessary adjustments.

Housing and Ethnicity in the Post-Soviet City: Ust'-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan

Despite egalitarian aims, considerable social and ethnic segregation existed in countries with central planning. To date, however, research on residential segregation in the former state socialist countries of east central Europe and the former Soviet Union has been limited and has focused mainly on major metropolitan or capital-city areas and on social segregation. The aim of this study is to analyse ethnic post-Soviet segregation in housing in the medium-sized industrial city of Ust'-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan. The paper uses data from the sample survey Cities of the Ruduyi Altay, and linear and logistic regression to analyse segregation by dwelling type, housing size and facilities between Kazakhs, Russians and other ethnic groups. The study reveals that the housing conditions of Kazakhs are considerably worse than those of both Russians and other ethnic groups.