Reforming the State Fiscal and Welfare Reform in Post-Socialist Countries

Countries of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe are entering the second decade of political transformation and economic reform. The first decade involved macroeconomic stabilization, privatization, and development of the basic institutional infrastructure of a market economy. The new policy challenges center on the nature of the social contract between citizens and their governments. These challenges include identifying the appropriate boundaries between the obligations of the public sector and the responsibilities of individual citizens, the range of public goods the government should supply, and who should pay for and benefit from their provision. The essays in this volume, first published in 2001, focus on two interrelated issues: the making of fiscal policy and the provision of citizens' welfare, particularly regarding pensions and health care. The essays emphasize that there is no single model of a market economy; rather, governments and publics face a range of options for restructuring the socialist welfare state.

Preface János Kornai; Introduction Stephan Haggard and Robert R. Kaufman; Part I. Fiscal Policy and Institutions: 1. Politics of the labor market adjustment: the case of Russia Vladimir Gimpelson; 2. Creating effective tax administrations: the experience of Russia and Georgia Vito Tanzi; 3. Politics, institutions and macroeconomic adjustment: Hungarian fiscal policy-making in comparative perspective Stephan Haggard, Robert R. Kaufman and Matthew S. Shugart; 4. Brothers-in-arms or rivals in politics? Top politicians and top policy-makers in the Hungarian transformation Béla Greskovits; Part II. The Welfare State: 5. Lessons from Sweden for post-socialist countries Assar Lindbeck; 6. The borderline between the spheres of authority of the citizen and the state: recommendations for the Hungarian health reform János Kornai; 7. Security through diversity: conditions for successful reform of the pension system in Poland Jerzy Hausner; 8. The politics of pension and health care reforms in Hungary and Poland Joan M. Nelson.

The essays in this volume focus on two interrelated issues in post-socialist countries: the making of fiscal policy and the provision of citizens' welfare, particularly regarding pensions and health care. The essays emphasize that there is no single model of a market economy; rather, governments and publics face a range of options for restructuring the socialist welfare state.