Transition Economies: Transformation, Development, and Society in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union
- High resolution cover image
- Click here to view Reviews on a separate page
- REVIEW: Yakov Feygin. 2024 [Book Review] Transition Economies. Transformation, Development, and Society in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, Economic History Association (EH.net) https://eh.net/book_reviews/transition-economics-transformation-development-and-society-in-eastern-europe-and-the-former-soviet-union/
- REVIEW: Christopher Atamian. 2022. [Book Review] Transition Economies. Transformation, Development, and Society in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, Armenian Mirror-Spectator (March 26, p.14) [PDF] Online: https://mirrorspectator.com/2022/03/28/review-transition-economies-in-eastern-europe-and-the-former-soviet-union-by-aleksandr-v-gevorkyan/
- reprint – HyeTert [March 28, 2022) https://hyetert.org/2022/03/28/review-transition-economies-in-eastern-europe-and-the-former-soviet-union-by-aleksandr-v-gevorkyan/
- REVIEW: Gonzalo Luis Fernández. 2020. [Book Review] Transition Economies. Transformation, Development, and Society in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, Review of Keynesian Economics, Vol 8 (4): 622-623 https://doi.org/10.4337/roke.2020.04.09
- REVIEW: Artyom H. Tonoyan. 2021. [Book Review] Transition Economies. Transformation, Development, and Society in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, Review of Political Economy,Vol. 33(2): 366-369 https://doi.org/10.1080/09538259.2020.1785689
- REVIEW: Jacob Assa. 2020. [Book Review] Transition Economies. Transformation, Development, and Society in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, Europe-Asia Studies, 72:7, 1265-1266. DOI: 10.1080/09668136.2020.1793557
- REVIEW: John Marangos. 2021. [Book Review] Transition economics. Transformation, development, and society in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, Eurasian Geography and Economics, Vol. 62(2): 238-241 DOI: 10.1080/15387216.2020.1738950 or read via PDF
- REVIEW: Lorena Lombardozzi. 2020. [Book Review] “Transition Economies: transformation, development and society in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union by Aleksandr V. Gevorkyan,” Routledge, 2018. Review of Radical Political Economics : 347-350 ( ) or read open access or via PDF
- REVIEW: Hovhannes Nikoghosyan “How to best utilise Diaspora potential for economic development?” in MEDIAMAX.am (Nov 19, 2019) read via PDF
- National Bank of Romania Reference Catalogue listing the Transition Economies book as essential read, National Bank of Romania.
- 2019 Alumni Summer Reading List, The New School’s Academic Year in Books 2018-19: Alumni, The New School. (June 13, 2019).
- REVIEW: David Lane “Book Review: Transition Economies: Transformation, Development and Society in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union by Aleksandr V. Gevorkyan” in LSE Review of Books (May 15th, 2019) read via PDF
- Innovation Matters: Post-Communist Transition 30 years on, The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) podcast (June 8, 2022) https://soundcloud.com/unece/innovation-matters-post-communist-transition-30-years-on
- UNECE. 2020. Sub-regional Innovation Policy Outlook 2020: Eastern Europe and South Caucasus. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Nov 25, 2020. https://www.unece.org/index.php?id=55498
- Guest talk with AGBU Armenia’s “Evening Conversations” How Small is a Small Economy? July 27, 2020
- July 23, 2020 – Seminar speaker on “Economy and Society in Post-Socialist Realm.” Henry George School of Social Science – VIDEO
- Transition Economies listed in the reference catalogue of the National Bank of Romania.
- November 12, 2019 – Seminar speaker on “Diasporization of Development: Armenian Diaspora Survey and Engagement Infrastructure,” Colorado State University, Fort Collins (announcement), CO.
- July 18, 2019 – Summer School: Armenia in the context of perspectives of developing relations between EU and EEU Transition Economies – Transformation, Development & Society in Eastern Europe & Former Soviet Union; Russian-Armenian University, Yerevan, Armenia [PR in Russian]
- July 15, 2019 – Guest talk at the Central Bank of Armenia on “How history matters in the post socialist transformation” video transcript.
- June 14, 2019 – Gevorkyan, A.V. 2019. Roots of CEE economic success were planted in postwar industrialization. Financial Times, (p.10) https://on.ft.com/2F9UlmB [PDF]
- May 27, 2019 – Guest talk “Fintech in CEE and FSU: a new transformation?” The Faculty of Finance and Law of Cracow University of Economics; Committee on Financial Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences; and the Society for the Study of Emerging Markets; https://ee.uek.krakow.pl/Program_EET_v2.pdf
- April 18, 2019 – “Banking systems, fintech, and development in the post-socialist transition economies” NSSR Economics Department’s Macro Lunch Seminar Series
- April 3, 2019 – Book talk at the Centre for Comparative Studies of Emerging Economies at University College of London
- April 3, 2019 – Transition economics and fintech developments in former soviet economies Oxford Brookes Business School Seminar [flyer]
- March 22, 2019 – Book mention on Henry George School of Social Science website.
- December 7, 2018 – [podcast] New Books Network, podcast Interview with New Books Network
- November 16, 2018 –“How history matters in the post-socialist transformation,” Presentation at Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA [flyer]
- October 29, 2018 – “Tobin development economist discusses policy at World Bank,” St. John’s News mention.
- October 20, 2018 –Interview with Armenian Public TV
- October 16, 2018 –Presentation at Fordham University, during AESA seminar.
- October 4, 2018 – World Bank Armenia update on the WB presentation.
- October 3, 2018 – BOOK LAUNCHat the World Bank Europe & Central Asia Chief Economist Seminar Series “Transition Economies: Transformation, Development, and Society in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union”, The World Bank, Washington, D.C.
- July 10, 2018 – “New Book: Transition Economies – Transformation, Development, and Society in Eastern Europe & Former Soviet Union,” Blog post at the Radical Political Economy.
- June 4, 2018 – Heterodox Economics Newsletter (issue 231) announcement
- May 5, 2018 – “New Book Analyzes Economic Histories of Post-Socialist Countries,” The Armenian Weekly announcement.
“A new book on transition economies, with a strong historical perspective, knowledge of the area and languages, lots of empirics and discussion of new issues like migration and remittances.” – Branko Milanovic, Visiting Presidential Professor, Graduate Center – CUNY; Former Lead Economist, World Bank Research Department.
https://twitter.com/BrankoMilan/status/1061042673098940416
“This comprehensive analysis of transition processes is a welcome addition to the transition literature. It is rich in historical analysis and presents a sobering and factually rich presentation of the diverse evolutions in Central and Eastern Europe. A must-read for all those interested in transition and countries of the region.” – Gerard Roland, E. Morris Cox Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, USA
‘In his enlightening book, Aleksandr V. Gevorkyan systematically unpacks the nuanced complexities of economic history and social dynamics of the post-socialist Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union. This creatively novel exploration will be an interesting and engaging must-read!” – Otaviano Canuto,World Bank Group, Executive Director for Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Philippines, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago
“Professor Gevorkyan’s book is a must-read for those interested in the cataclysmic changes that occurred in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, and that are still playing out towards as yet unknown destinations. The author has produced a thorough and insightful, yet questioning, account of the transition economies of that vast region and diverse collection of countries. As an economist, he has analyzed that aspect well and thoroughly, but has gone far beyond that rather simplistic view of economic transition to analyze the far more complex topic of broad societal transformation. He has done so with attention to the historical, social, political and institutional changes that occurred during and as result of the transition. Another important contribution is the author’s insistence on viewing the transition and transformation of the individual countries involved, as he has done in his analyses, rather than considering the region as a single entity as might have been implied from the book’s title. Professor Gevorkyan has provided a highly analytical and nuanced view of an enormously important topic, but with a framework and writing style that produce a comfortable, as well as valuable, reading experience.” – Daniel J. McCarthy, Emeritus University Distinguished Professor and McKim-D’Amore Distinguished Professor of Global Management & Innovation, D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University, USA
“This excellent book is an important tool for graduate students, scholars and policy makers.” – Andrea Bernardi, Senior Lecturer in Employment and Organization Studies at Oxford Brookes University in the UK
“Transition Economies […] summarises the major economic and many social indicators of the changes which have taken place in the 29 European and Central Asian countries of what was previously called the Soviet bloc […] Its strength lies in summarising an enormous amount of statistical information concerning post-socialist developments in this area […] Transition Economies will prove a useful source for many students of transformation seeking detailed knowledge of the recent economic history of the European post-socialist states.” – David Lane, Emeritus Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge University, UK, in LSE Review of Books.
“This monograph is an invaluable reference book for classrooms to understand the rocky paths for transition in post-Communist states in this mega-region, and a great general interest resource on economic history, international economics, or comparative economic systems.”– Hovhannes Nikoghosyan is an Adjunct Lecturer, Political Science and International Affairs program at American University of Armenia, in Mediamax.am
“This book is much needed on the bookshelves of those who want to understand how historical experiences can inform state-market relationships and dynamics of capital accumulation at the start, during and at the end of the Former Soviet Union.” – Lorena Lombardozzi in Review of Radical Political Economics.
“I hope Gevorkyan’s book will re-ignite further research into the topic […] I highly recommend the book and applaud the method, analysis and conclusions. A must-read for students and scholars of international development.” – John Marangos in Eurasian Geography and Economics.
“This fascinating account of the dramatic and complex transformation of 29 countries is essential reading not just for students of development and economics—for which it would be a great classroom resource—but also for seasoned economists and development professionals. Its lessons go beyond those of the countries and period in question and remind us of the importance of paying attention to institutional details, cultural and historical contexts, and the general complexity of human systems—social, economic and political.” – Jacob Assa, Policy Specialist, UNDP, Human Development Report Office, USA, in Europe-Asia Studies, 72:7, 1265-1266.
“Aleksandr Gevorkyan’s study is an absorbing exploration of the economic history of the former socialist bloc, of what went wrong, of what went right, and of what could have been. … Gevorkyan is consistently effective in dismantling the optimistic myths surrounding the rapid liberalization of the economies of the former USSR and Eastern Europe.” – Artyom H. Tonoyan (University of Minnesota), Review of Political Economy