U.S.- Central/East European Collaborative Research: Making Competitive Markets in Central and Eastern Europe: The Impact of Market Openness and Physical Infrastructure

American University, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This is a U.S.-Central/East European cooperative research project that will focus on competitive markets in Central and Easter Europe. The principal investigators are Robert Feinberg and Mieke Meurs from American University in Washington, DC, Sergey Tsvetarsky from the National Statistical Office in Bulgaria, Stefan Stefanov from the New Bulgarian University and Krzysztof Gorlach from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. This project will examine the roles of market liberalization (through legal/institutional changes) and domestic infrastructure in promoting competitive domestic markets. The first part of the project is a statistical study using existing data sets to study "passthrough" penetration in seven Central and East European countries. The second part of the project involves collecting local data at the municipal level in Poland to study infrastructure development. These two 'projects' could provide interesting insights into the problems of modernizing the economic infrastructure in these countries and the possible implications these developments have on the development of private sector markets. This project in economics research fulfills the program objectives of bringing together leading experts in the U.S. and Central/Eastern Europe to combine complementary efforts and capabilities in areas of strong mutual interest and competence on the basis of equality, reciprocity, and mutuality of benefit.