MACMILLAN Does EU Membership Facilitate Convergence? The Experience of the EU's Eastern Enlargement - Volume I: Overall Trends and Country Experiences: 1 (Studies in Economic Transition)

This edited volume analyses how EU membership influenced the convergence process of member countries in the Baltics, Central-Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. It also explores countries that are candidates for future EU membership. The speed of convergence of significant groups of low- and medium-income countries has never been as fast globally as it is today. Contributions by lead researchers of the area explore whether these countries are converging faster than their fundamentals and global trends would suggest because of EU membership, with its much tighter institutional and political anchorage Review “The volume is an excellent account of How the EU convergence machine worked For the CEEC. Questions arise: will it continue? why has it stalled with some „older” EU members?”   Marek Belka, member of the European Parliament, former PM and Finance Minister of Poland     "To create greater convergence, we need more integration". This message, conveyed recently by a distinguished European statesman, perfectly reflects the key hypothesis this book discusses. By relevant and balanced synthesis of theory, empirical findings and country experiences, the book provides comprehensive and multi-dimensional insight into all important aspects of the linkages between integration and convergence, a rich material of a value-added to scholars, policymakers and corporate managers. Researchers will particularly value the model-based framework that builds on the various channels through which EU membership influences convergence. For policymakers such as myself, this book serves as a reminder of unique changes and reforms we witnessed and contributed to in the recent past but, more importantly, as an inspiration on how to face and address current challenges, from climate change, ageing to migration.   Boris Vujčić, Governor, Croatian National Bank     "This two-volume study is a truly major contribution to our understanding of key issues related to the convergence of the New Member States of the European Union (EU11) to the frontier. The editors, Michael Landesmann and Istvan Szekely, and authors are among the most experienced analysts in this area and their contributions constitute a veritable tour de force. The focus on economic, institutional and social aspects of convergence, together with their interaction, is very appropriate and provides a rich set of insights into the past evolution and likely future trends. The two volumes are important by providing an in-depth analysis of the convergence of EU11, but their relevance is much broader, including the importance of what I would call the terminal conditions – the possibility of entering the EU – a factor with great effects that cannot be analyzed in the context of other emerging market economies.  The authors identify the weakness of institutions as a major potential limitation on the speed of EU 11 convergence in the future. The EU 11 countries have performed remarkably well and I am hopeful, together with the authors of these two volumes, that these countries will tackle successfully their present and future challenges. The two volumes are a must read for everyone interested in EU11 and emerging market economies in general."   Jan Svejnar, Professor of Global Political Economy and Founding Director of the Center on Global Economic Governance at Columbia University, USA.  "This two volume collection is a treasure chest of timely information on the accession to the Economic Union (EU) of former Warsaw-Pact nations.  Volume I presents overall analysis of convergence and extensive background information on the new members.  Volume II contains careful analyses of four major linkages among new and old EU members, namely trade, finance, migration, and institutional reform, with a focus on the impacts of interdependencies across countries and their role in convergence.  The authors of the individual chapters are well-known scholars in transition economics an