Modernizing Infrastructure in Transformation Economies

Paving the Way to European Enlargement

Christian von Hirschhausen, Professor of Energy Economics and Public Sector Management, Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden), and Research Director, DIW Berlin (German Institute for Economic Research), Germany

The design of infrastructure policies is a controversial issue in the transition economies of Eastern Europe, where the dismal state of infrastructure was widely regarded to be one of the major obstacles to economic recovery and sustained growth. With the imminent enlargement of the EU, Christian von Hirschhausen provides a detailed, reflective analysis of the state of infrastructure development in Eastern Europe.

‘This book should be thought-provoking reading for academics and practitioners with a professional interest in infrastructure services, policy design, and the agenda for infrastructure reform in transition economies. Christian von Hirschhausen’s rigorous, multi-sector analysis provides a first-time attempt at a balanced assessment of conceptual and practical issues regarding a critical area of the transition to markets. The book also questions some of the generally accepted findings regarding what works and what doesn’t in the restructuring of infrastructure in the former centrally-planned economies, with special attention to the political economy of reform.’
– José Carbajo, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), London, UK

‘The theoretical basis is impressive and the empirical evidence authentic: the book breathes the dust of Hungarian highways and the rust of Estonian power plants. In over five years of field research, the author has acquired an unmatched understanding of the topic and provides clear-cut, highly relevant policy conclusions for EU-enlargement.’
– Axel Siedenberg, Deutsche Bank Research / Economics, Germany

‘This book is an insightful study of the neglected issue of the infrastructure of transition economies in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. It chronicles the socialist infrastructure’s incompatibility with a market economy and its collapse using aggregate data and valuable case studies, particularly of the energy and transport sectors. Although there have been clear transition successes, the search for an optimal infrastructure policy has been elusive. Although market-based solutions have delivered less than promised due to political-economy and technological factors, their results have not proven inferior to more conservative regulatory approaches. Modernizing Infrastructure in Transformation Economies rounds out our knowledge of a key aspect of the transition process and is to be recommended to all serious scholars of transition and European integration.’
——保罗•格雷戈里University of Houston, US

‘This is the first comprehensive treatment of a highly topical issue. The message of this book is that transition economies need a substantial overhaul of their infrastructure, but that they should ponder gradual rather than radical ways for deregulation and privatization. Institutional, technical and financial constraints should not be ignored and “one-fits-all” type policies are inappropriate.’
– Irina Akimova, Institute for Economic Research, Ukraine