The economies of South Eastern Europe. Performance and challenges

Abstract:

The aim of this work is to analyse the broad factors that largely determined the course of the countries of South East Europe during transition, particularly their economic performance.

The book is organised in two parts. Following an introduction, part one deals with the broad determinants of economic performance of the South Eastern European (SEE) countries during transition. Chapter two presents a comparison of the harsh treatment experienced by the SEE countries with that of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Chapter three examines the initial conditions and thus the extent to which economic performance was adversely affected by the inherited economic distortions of central planning. The transition process and the necessary macroeconomic reform are featured in chapters four, five, and six. Chapter four looks at macroeconomic policies and performance in the period prior to the Kosovo conflict and chapter five deals with the post conflict period from 1999 onwards. Chapter six considers the progress made in structural reform using structural indicators developed by the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development). Chapter seven presents an attempt to quantify the contribution of these broad factors to the output performance in the specific countries.

Part two contains three chapters which focus on developments regarding international trade relations, FDI inflows, and the role of the euro in the exchange rate arrangements of the SEE countries. Chapter eight deals with trade patterns both by geographical distribution and sector composition. Chapter nine focuses on the SEE countries’ performance in attracting FDI inflows. The final chapter examines the economic and policy objectives of each country to analyse the implications of the euro for the sustainability and effectiveness of the current exchange rate management of the SEE countries.

The work will interest scholars and students, researchers and policy makers in the fields of European enlargement and integration, economics and exchange rate management.

The author is Senior Economist in the Economic Research Department of the Bank of Greece and Assistant Professor of Economics at the Panteion University of Athens.