Perhaps the most useful criterion for assessing success in the transition is the sustainable recovery of output, which can be achieved only by controlling inflation and liberalizing markets.
Transition is a dynamic historical process, imposing change on almost every element of society.
Assessing the progress of a great number of countries during transition is a complex undertaking in any area, including economics. Success in recovering output, however, readily suggests itself as a useful unifying theme for economic assessment, not least because of the importance policymakers in transition economies attach to output growth and its immediacy for the welfare of everyone in those countries. Based on extensive econometric analysis, this article identifies factors that have inhibited or encouraged the expansion of output and points out several lessons for achieving consistent and sustainable economic growth. No one pattern characterizes the growth experience of the transition economies. Regression analysis done in an underlying study allows us to draw a number of conclusions.