Publication: Capacity Building in Economics : Education and Research in Transition Economies
Date
2002-01
ISSN
Published
2002-01
Author(s)
Pleskovic, Boris
Aslund, Anders
Bader, William
Campbell, Robert
Abstract
The development of the institutional
capacity to create and evaluate economic policies remains a
critical need-and constraint-in most transition economies if
they are to complete the successful passage to fully
functioning market economies. To take an active role in the
transition process, economic policymakers, business leaders,
government officials, and others need a thorough grounding
in market-based economics. This requires strengthening
economics education and providing support for qualified
economists to teach economics at all levels and to carry out
high-quality research and policy analysis. Although the
education systems in a handful of countries have already
risen to the challenge, in many other transition countries,
the structure of educational and research institutes remains
grounded in the Communist model. This paper presents
findings from a comprehensive study assessing the state of
economics education and research in 24 countries in
East-Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. While 20
countries were initially included because preliminary
assessments showed that they lacked the capability to offer
high-quality economics education, four additional
countries-the Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, and
Ukraine-were included to highlight five centers of
excellence that they already host. Based on the experience
of these successful centers, the study's findings, and
information gathered from a series of donor meetings in
Berlin, New York, and Washington, D.C., this paper presents
an approach to building new indigenous capacity for teaching
and research on market-based economics in regions where the
need is particularly critical-the Caucasus, Central Asia,
and Southeast Europe.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Pleskovic, Boris; Aslund, Anders; Bader, William; Campbell, Robert. 2002. Capacity Building in Economics : Education and Research in Transition Economies. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2763. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15724 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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