Economic Transformation in Eastern Europe and the Distribution of Income

Who gains and who loses from economic transformation in Eastern Europe is a key question, but one which is too rarely discussed. This book examines the evidence about the distribution of income and poverty under Communism in Eastern Europe. Contrary to popular impressions, a great deal of information exists about the distribution of earnings and household incomes in Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland. With glasnost much material previously kept secret in the USSR became available. The book contains extensive statistical evidence that has not previously been assembled on a comparative basis, and takes the story right up to the end of Communism. The findings bring out the differences in experience between countries under Communism: between Central Europe and the former Soviet Union, between Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland, and between the newly independent states of the former USSR.