With contributions from Carla Kruger et al. Privatization Reports, vol. 3. Budapest
Presents an up-to-date and comprehensive picture of the transformation of the retail trade and consumer service sectors in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. Provides background on the operation of the sector prior to the demise of the communist regime in the Czech Republic, where the purest form of the command system had been in effect; describes the departures from this system in Hungary and Poland and the effects of communist reform efforts in the Hungarian and Polish retail trade and consumer service sectors; and explains the particulars of the privatization programs implemented in each country in the immediate postcommunist period. Analyzes the results of a survey of three hundred shops, restaurants, and service establishments in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to assess the performance of the privatized trade and service establishments in each country and identify the main driving forces of successful privatization. Coauthors are Roman Frydman, Andrzej Rapaczynski, and Joel Turkewitz. Earle teaches economics at Stanford University and the Central European University in Prague. No index.
Privatization in the transition to a market economy: studies of preconditions and policies in Eastern Europe
Ten papers explore the hypothesis that the diversity in the formulation and implementation of privatization policies in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union stems from differences in the histories of these countries under socialism. Papers focus on preconditions; privatization plans, policies, and results; and evidence from Hungary on the stock market and foreign capital. Earle is an author on East European transition and American labor markets. Frydman is at New York University. Rapaczynski is at Columbia University. Index.
Hours of work and trade-unionism
This article is concerned with hours worked per employee in unionized labor markets. First, the determination of hours is examined in the context of various bargaining models and, in the process, these models are nested in a general framework. Then cross-section and time-series data are drawn on to quantify the effects of unionism on hours worked. The time-series data from 1920 to 1980 imply a negative impact of unionism on full-time hours, while cross-section data for 1978 suggest some notable differences in both the direction and the magnitude of this impact across occupations and industries.