Comparative economic studies in Europe : a thirty year review This book is written in honor of Horst Brezinski and explores a wide and diverse range of topics related to comparative economic studies. Containing contributions from a number of former Presidents of the European Association for Comparative Economic Studies the chapters discuss the hard budget constraint economic transformation in Central Eastern Europe illiberal democracy sovereign wealth fund higher education the euro the shadow economy multinational companies and economic power. Additional attention is given to new areas of study such as the digital economy and sports economics. This book aims to examine comparative economies across a wide range of geographical areas including China Hungary the United Kingdom Poland and the United States and will be relevant to those interested in emerging and transition economies the political economy economic policy and international relations. Chapter 1: Introduction European Comparative Economic Studies: Thirty Years After Part 1: Political Economy in Comparative Studies Chapter 2: The political economy of socialism revisited Chapter 3: The development of thinking on the Czechoslovak economic transformation Chapter 4: The hard budget constraint as the pillar of the economy Chapter 5: Illiberal and “inward looking” drives: What fuels them  Chapter 6: The political economy of sovereign wealth funds Part 2: Comparative Economics Still on the Tracks Chapter 7: European higher education: Challenges and achievement Chapter 8: Eurozone: Crisis policies and reforms Chapter 9: Brexit: The lure of the neoliberal thought collective Chapter 10: The limits of Europe: Lessons from post communist experience for the post Brexit Union Chapter 11: Eurozone membership and foreign direct investment Chapter 12: Central Eastern European multinationals Chapter 13: Non observed economy vs. shadow economy and informal employment in Poland: A range of mismatching estimates Chapter 14: The Yugoslav successor states: From self management socialism to political capitalism Chapter 15: Is (post communist) China becoming a dominant economic power in South East Asia Chapter 16: The power of technology in the United States and China: A comparison Part 3: New Extensions of Comparative Economic Studies Chapter 17: Electronic commerce Markets competition and social welfare: A clash with history of economic thought Chapter 18: The economic determinants of the Olympics performance in Communist and post Communist countries Chapter 19: Introducing hard budget constraints without restricting entrepreneurs The role of voluntary agreements in UEFA’s club licensing and financial fair play regulations.