Balance of Payments, Exchange Rates, and Competitiveness in Transition Economies

Integrating transition economies into the global commercial and trade market system is a prolonged and risky process. This book is a collection of studies dealing with the different issues related to the liberalization of external relations in economies moving from a socialist to a market-based system The focus is on external sector developments, and the topics deal with balance of payments conditions, exchange rate policies and regimes, international competitiveness, international capital flows, trade, and other matters related to the integration of transition economies into the world economy.
An understanding of the principles involved and of the experiences of both transition and advanced economies during this process is crucial to ensure its ultimate success. Written by internationally recognized scholars, the chapters cover these issues in a systematic manner. The first section treats current account developments, capital flows, and exchange rate policies in transition countries, the second section deals with specific issues related to international trade, and the final section consists of six specific country experiences. In this final section, a chapter dealing with the Russian Federation discusses the collapse of the ruble in August 1998.

Transition and the Open Economy: An Overview.- Transition and the Open Economy: An Overview.- Exchange-Rate Policies and the Balance of Payments.- Current-Account Sustainability in Transition Economies.- Exchange-Rate Arrangements in the Transition Economies.- Toward Virtual Exchange-Rate Stability in Western and Eastern Europen with the Advent of EMU.- A Model of Real Exchange-Rate Determination in Transition Economies.- Financing the Transition to a Market Economy: External Borrowing in the Baltics and CIS Region.- Capital Flows and Stability of Financial Systems in Emerging Countries.- Transition and International Trade.- Geographic Diversification of Trade in Transition Economies.- The Fiscal Implications of Trade Liberalization in Transition Countries.- What is Special about Endogenous International Trade Policy in Transition Economies?.- Selected Country Experiences.- External Deficit, Exchange Rate, and Competitiveness in Croatia: Is There a Problem?.- Exchange-Rate Policy in the Czech Republic: The Perils of Sticking to Fixed Exchange Rates.- Trade, Trade Policy, and Foreign-Exchange Regimes Under Transition: Russia and the Dutch Disease.- Balance of Payments, Exchange Rates, and Competitiveness: Lessons for Transition Economies from the Israeli Experience.- Balance of Payments, Exchange Rates, and Competitiveness in Hungary.- Current-Account Surplus and Falling Competitiveness in Slovenia.