Since the 1990s, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has provided unique societal quasi-experiments, which represent opportunities to test the applicability of existing theories in international business and management studies and to develop new ones. Specifically, three lines of theorising have been advanced: (1) organisational economics theories; (2) resource-based theories; and (3) institutional theories. For each of these theories, we discuss how they contribute to the understanding of key issues, such as entry strategies of foreign investors, restructuring strategies of local incumbents, and entry and growth strategies of entrepreneurs. On this basis, we assess how CEE research has influenced the overall trajectories of theory development. CEE research has in particular highlighted the importance of contextual influences such as institutions. Thus, scholars have aimed at incorporating institutions into theories (such as organisational economics theories and resource based theories) and advancing an institution-based view of business strategy as a complementary perspective. We outline how future research in CEE and other emerging economies may advance this research agenda further.

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Probing theoretically into Central and Eastern Europe: transactions, resources, and institutions

Western interpretations of the Cold War--both realist and neoconservative--have erred by exaggerating either the Kremlin's pragmatism or its aggressiveness, argues Vladislav Zubok. Explaining the interests, aspirations, illusions, fears, and misperceptions of the Kremlin leaders and Soviet elites, Zubok offers a Soviet perspective on the greatest standoff of the twentieth century. Using recently declassified Politburo records, ciphered telegrams, diaries, and taped conversations, among other sources, Zubok explores the origins of the superpowers' confrontation under Stalin, Khrushchev's contradictory and counterproductive attempts to ease tensions, the surprising story of Brezhnev's passion for detente, and Gorbachev's destruction of the Soviet superpower as the by-product of his hasty steps to end the Cold War and to reform the Soviet Union. The first work in English to cover the entire Cold War from the Soviet side, A Failed Empire provides a history different from those written by the Western victors. 2008 Marshall Shulman Book Prize, American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies A Washington Post Book World Best of 2008 selection

A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev

To date, little research has focused on female entrepreneurship in the context of transitioning countries. This paper compares from an institutional perspective two countries at different stages in the process of transformation. Lithuania followed a rapid transitional path leading to European Union membership, while Ukraine is on a much slower development path. Women entrepreneurs in Lithuania and Ukraine share many common features and problems; however, there are important differences in the experiences of women in these two countries. This indicates a need to recognize the diversity that exists among transition countries, reflecting different inheritances from the Soviet past as well as differences in the pace of change during the transition period.

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Female entrepreneurship in transition economies: the case of Lithuania and Ukraine

https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/50785/1/670731773.pdf

Determinants of agricultural land abandonment in post-Soviet European Russia

1. Federations and the theoretical problem: 1.1 Why Federalism 1.2 Definitions 1.3 The long search for stability Federalism as nuisance Federalism as engine of prosperity Riker as intermediary 1.4 The fundamental problem of stability 1.5 Basic premises and conclusions 2. Federal bargaining: 2.1 Alliances versus federations 2.2 The private character of public goods 2.3 Equilibrium selection and redistribution 2.4 The 'federal problem' 2.5 Bargaining for control of the center 2.6 Allocating jurisdictions 2.7 Three levels of institutional design 3. Two cases of uninstitutionalized bargaining: 3.1 The Czechoslovak dissolution 3.2 The Soviet dissolution 3.3 The feasibility of success in initial bargaining 3.4 Secession: the special road to renegotiation 4. Representation: 4.1 Two alternative models of Federalism 4.2 A national venue for bargaining 4.3 Within versus without 4.4 Direct versus delegated representation 4.5 Other parameters of design 4.6 Bilateral decision making and the case of Russia 5. Incentives: 5.1 Institutional enforcement 5.2 The court 5.3 Some simple rules of constitutional design 5.4 Voters versus elites 5.5 Desirable imperfection and a democratic as if principle 6. Political parties in a federal state: 6.1 An extreme hypothesis 6.2 Parties in a democracy 6.3 The idealized party system 6.4 Integrated parties 6.5 Integration outside the United States Australian Federalism and the role of parties Canada 6.6 India Leadership incentives Rank and file incentives The party and Federalism 1967 and thereafter 7. Institutional sources of federal stability I: 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Level 2 and the federalist 7.3 Level 3 institutions 7.4 Australia, Canada, Germany, and India revisited Germany Canada Canada vs Australia and India 7.3 Local and regional design parameters 8. Institutional sources of federal stability II: 8.1 Electoral mechanisms and societal structures Representation Ethnicity Defining federal subjects Number of local jurisdictions Authority over local governments 8.2 Bicameralism Symmetry Presidential authority Presidential selection Electoral connections 8.3 Level 1 and the scope of the federal mandate 8.4 Level 0 - things beyond design 9. Designing Federalism: 9.1 Russia Electoral arrangements Regional autonomy Constitutional matters Parties and the current status quo 9.2 The European Union Background The role of parties The puzzle of the collusion France versus Britain EU institutional design 9.4 Conclusion.

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Designing Federalism: A Theory of Self-Sustainable Federal Institutions

1. Overview Michael Ellman and Vladimir Kontorovich Part I: Economics, Politics and Society 2. The Soviet Economy and International Politics Russel Bova 3. Social and Moral Aspects of the Crisis: Their Sources and Consequences Iurii Levada Part II: Macroeconomic Developments 4. Economic Growth in the 1980s Grigorii Khanin 5. Soviet Consumption in the 1980s: A Tale of Woe Gertrude E. Schroeder 6. Money in the 1980s - From Disequilibrium to Collapse Michael Ellman Part III: Regions and Sectors 7. The Central Asian Economy in Comparitive Perspective Alistair McAuley 8. Allocation of Investment among Soviet Republics in the 1980s John P. Burkett 9. The Railoroads Vladimir Kontorovich 10. Agriculture's Role in the Soviet Economic Crisis Edward C. Cook 11. Technical Progress and Research and Development Vladimir Kontorovich Part IV: Quality of Life 12. The Environment: From Stagnation to Collapse Zeev Wolfson 13. Health W. Ward Kingkade.

The Disintegration of the Soviet Economic System

Has new business creation in russia come to a halt

The predominant view in the literature holds that the main objective of the Soviet rulers was growth of the official measure of aggregate output, irrespective of its use structure, that is, growth for its own sake. We show that the pursuit of this objective would have been irrational, and argue instead that the main objective was the pursuit of military might. This formulation returns the Soviet rulers to the company of rational economic actors, helps explain the main characteristics of the Soviet economic development better than the majority view, and provides a different perspective on the system's final decades.

What did the Soviet Rulers Maximise

(1988). Lessons of the 1965 Soviet economic reform. Soviet Studies: Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 308-316.

Lessons of the 1965 Soviet Economic Reform

The inside story of the political collpase of the Soviet Union is far better understood than the course of economic and social disintegration. In order to capture the story, the editors compiled a list of questions which they addressed to former top Soviet officials and economic and other policy advisors (both Soviet and foreign) who were privy not only to data on the functioning of the Soviet economy but also to the internal policy debate during the 1980s. This volume assembles the Informants' analyses of key issues and the turning points, and weaves them into a compelling history of systemic collapse. Among the topics investigated are: economic policies in the 1980s; the standard of living: the reliability of Soviet statistics; Gosplan's projections for the economy to the year 2000; was the arms race starving the civilian economy? the role of ideology in supporting the functioning of an economic system; the party's participating in economic management; the influence of foreign advisors; the struggle over a transition program; the functioning and collapse of the supply system, the CMEA, and the foreign trade system.

Vladimir Kontorovich

Papers

The Disintegration of the Soviet Economic System

Has new business creation in russia come to a halt

What did the Soviet Rulers Maximise

Lessons of the 1965 Soviet Economic Reform

The Destruction of the Soviet Economic System: An Insider's History: An Insider's History