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When transition started in Eastern Europe and Russia, it was clear that unemployment would emerge and that, at least initially, job losses were likely to be large given the size of the shocks and the disruption to systems of production and trade. How large the unemployment and how long it will last still remains largely unknown. This report examines the unemployment status of Hungary, Poland, Czech and Slovak Republics, Russia, Bulgaria, and Romania. The contributing authors examine the effect of government reforms and privatization on a labor force lacking the skills for the evolving sectors of employment in service and trade industries. The contributors also examine the phenomenon of regional unemployment due to a rigidity in labour markets, caused by immobility across the labour market due to inaccessibility to housing and infrastructure.

In the transition to a market economy, the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union have embarked on significantly diverse paths, particularly with regard to the speed of the transition. Some commonalities are evident--large output losses, sectoral shocks, and rising unemployment. This volume is the first attempt at understanding the nature and dynamics of these changing economies from the perspective of labor markets.

Simon Commander

Simon Commander received his B.A. from Oxford University in 1975 and his PhD from Cambridge University in 1980. From 1988 to 1999, he worked at the World Bank, principally at the World Bank Institute.

He is currently Senior Adviser at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)and Managing Partner at Altura Advisers. He was previously Director of the Centre for New and Emerging Markets at London Business School. He has published widely including books, articles and working papers.
His research interests include income determination, inflation, labour economics, comparative economic systems, economic policy, economic stabilization.

Simon Commander joined The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) as a Research Fellow in December 1999.

Fabrizio Coricelli

Fabrizio Coricelli is Professor at Université Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne as well as Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), London. He has worked as: Director of Research at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) during 2007-08; Economic Advisor at the European Commission during 2001-02; Senior economist at the World Bank during 1989-1993; and economist at the International Monetary Fund during 1987-89. His research and professional activity has concentrated on the Economics of Emerging Markets, with special focus on transition countries. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.