Inequalities During and After Transition in Central and Eastern Europe

The aim of the book is to investigate, theoretically and empirically, key aspects of social and economic inequalities that developed during the transition of the formerly planned European economies. Although the focus is mainly on new EU member states, coverage of the analysis is extended to countries of the former Soviet Union and former Yugoslavia wherever possible. The empirical analyses generally consider the two decades after the start of transition; however, particular emphasis is given to more recent years in order to consider the effects of the global crisis that began in 2008-2009. All analyses are carried out adopting a comparative perspective and, whenever possible, Western EU members are used as benchmarks.

This collection of contributions brings together the latest research on inequality and transition economies.

Cristiano Perugini is Associate Professor in Political Economy and J. Monnet Professor of European Integration Studies at the University of Perugia (Italy). He is Research Associate at Fren, Belgrade. His interests lie in income and wage inequality, labour markets and transition economies. He has published his works in The Review of Income and Wealth, Economic Systems, The Cambridge Journal of Economics and the Economics of Transition, among others.

Fabrizio Pompei is Assistant Professor in Political Economy at the University of Perugia, Italy. His main research interests are focused on the relationships between labour, productivity and innovation, and their effects on wage inequalities in a comparative perspective. On these topics he has published extensively in international journals including International Labour Review, The Cambridge Journal of Economics, Energy Economics, and International Review of Applied Economics.

Foreword (Jens Hölscher)
Introduction (Cristiano Perugini and Fabrizio Pompei)
Chapter 1: Income Distribution During and After Transition: a Conceptual Framework (Cristiano Perugini and Fabrizio Pompei)

Part I - Personal and Functional Income Distribution Patterns During Transition

Chapter 2: The Drivers of Personal Income Inequality in Transition and the Role of Reform Approaches (David Aristei and Cristiano Perugini)
Chapter 3: Functional Income Distribution in European Transition Countries (Ana Rincon-Aznar, Francesco Venturini, Michela Vecchi)
Chapter 4: Emigration, Employment and Inequality in Post-Communist Countries (Cristiano Perugini and Fabrizio Pompei)

Part II - Microeconomics analysis of income distributions and the role of institutional settings

Chapter 5: Income Mobility in the New EU Member States (David Aristei and Cristiano Perugini)
Chapter 6: Earnings Inequality and Job Positions across Post-Communist European Economies (Cristiano Perugini and Fabrizio Pompei)
Chapter 7: Wage Inequality Between and Within Education Levels in Transition Countries (Cristiano Perugini and Fabrizio Pompei)
Chapter 8: Gender Earnings Inequality in the New EU Member States (Cristiano Perugini and Ekaterina Selezneva)
Chapter 9: Gender Wage Inequality in the Western Balkans (Marko Vladisavljevic, Sonja Avlijaš and Suncica Vujic)

Part III - Redistributive Preferences and Arrangements

Chapter 10: The Solidarity Principle in the New EU Member States (Valentina Colcelli)
Chapter 11: Social Preferences for Redistribution in Central Eastern Europe and in the Baltic Countries (David Aristei and Cristiano Perugini)
Chapter 12: Welfare and Redistribution in Post-Communist Countries (Martin Myant and Jan Drahokoupil)