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Examines patterns and trends in corruption in business-government interactions in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and the progress achieved by countries in addressing it. The findings of this third volume are derived by a large-scale survey undertaken in collaboration with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. "The Anticorruption in Transition Series" examines patterns and trends in corruption in business-government interactions in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and the progress achieved by countries in addressing it. The findings of this third volume, derived by a large-scale survey undertaken in collaboration with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, indicate continued improvement in many countries. Thanks to their reform efforts and external/internal drivers of change.
The post-communist Central European and Baltic economies are now approaching the end of their transitions to well-functioning market systems. In some respects, the approaching EU accession and conclusion of the transition marks the end of a fascinating period in economic history. Beyond Transition focuses on the economic problems and issues facing Central Europe and the Baltics, the Balkans, and countries belonging to the Commonwealth for Independent States (CIS) in the post-transition context. This focus reflects the need to better understand two processes that are increasingly apparent in the post-communist economic space. First, many of the problems now facing policy makers in post-communist economies - choice of exchange rate regime, tax reform, labour market regulation, improving corporate governance - also face policy makers in developed and developing countries in other parts of the world. Second, the EU's eastern enlargement and the policy agendas facing the first wave accession candidates have major implications for the CIS and Balkan countries that have not been (and may never be) invited to join this process.
In this paper we analyze the recent efforts of the international financial institutions to limit the moral hazard created by their assistance to crisis countries. We question the wisdom of the case-by-case approach taken in Pakistan, Ecuador, Romania and Ukraine. We show that because default and restructuring are so painful and costly, it is simply not time consistent for the IFIs to plan to stand aside if the markets refuse to roll over maturing claims, restructure problem debts, or provide new money. Because these realities create an incentive to disburse even if investors fail to comply, the IFIs are then placed in the position of having to back down on their previous conditionality, which undermines their credibility. And since investors are aware of these facts, their behavior is unlikely to be modified by the IFIs' less-than-credible statements of intent. Hence, this approach to bailing in the private sector' will not work. Fortunately, there is an alternative: introducing collective-action clauses into loan agreements. This, and not ad hoc efforts to bail in the private sector, is a forward-looking solution to the moral hazard problem.
The wide variation in transition economies raises questions about differences in economic growth, the applicability of transition policies, and the advantages of economic reform. This report seeks to answer these questions.
How have tax systems, whose primary role is to raise resources to finance public expenditures, evolved in the transition countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union? Mitra and Stern find that: (1) the ratio of tax revenue-to-GDP decreased largely due to a fall in revenue from corporate income tax; (2) the fall in revenue from the corporate income tax led to a decline in the importance of income taxes, notwithstanding a rise in the share of individual income tax; (3) social security contributions together with payroll taxes became less important in the Commonwealth of Independent States; and (4) domestic indirect taxes gained in importance in overall tax revenues. Apart from the i...