Political economy of privatization in Hungary: A progress report
This paper focuses on the political economy of privatization in its second phase in Hungary, the country which, overall, has gone furthest in privatizing public utilities, introducing elements of competition and setting up regulatory mechanisms and institutions to monitor them. The background to Hungary's reform path, the antecedents to privatization, the debate on the issues, the institutional framework and the progress of privatization in Hungary up to late 1993/early 1994 are well-documented elsewhere, including by the present authors. Therefore, the paper presents a brief review of the evolutionary path of Hungary's privatization "vision", policy and strategy under the government of Jozsef Antall (1990-1994), and attempts to identify the factors influencing this evolution. Developments regarding privatization under the reform- socialist/liberal coalition government led by Gyula Horn, which came to power in 1994, and a detailed examination of the privatization of the major utilities and the regulatory environment currently in place, forms the core of this study. Finally, the paper sets the above in the context of the overall development of the private sector in Hungary.
Transport and Telecommunications Infrastructure in Transition
Poor infrastructure is one of the major obstacles to economic modernisation, to the functioning of a market economy, to increasing international trade flows and to foreign investment in East-Central Europe. Six out of ten surveys of foreign investors named weak infrastructures among the major obstacles they faced in Eastern countries. Backwardness, however, means also that potential investors in transport and telecommunications can reckon with increasing demand and safe returns. Both activities are among the most promising targets of investment for governments, domestic and foreign firms and international financial institutions alike. This article outlines problems related to infrastructure encountered by Central and East European (CEE) countries, namely the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. The term infrastructure is used in a limited sense referring to transport (mainly road and rail) and telecommunications. The article first evaluates the pre-transformation development level of infrastructures, then the impact of transformation to a market economy on the demand and supply of infrastructure services. This is followed by some thoughts regarding the development of international networks and the financing of infrastructure development projects. In the final section the options for national transport and telecom policies are described and compared.
The Italian Renaissance: Culture and Society in Italy
In this newly revised edition of his widely acclaimed work, Peter Burke presents a social and cultural history of the Italian Renaissance. He discusses the social and political institutions that existed in Italy during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and he analyzes the ways of thinking and seeing that characterized this period of extraordinary artistic creativity. Developing a distinctive approach, the author is concerned not only with the finished works of Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, and others, but also with the social background, patterns of recruitment, and means of subsistence of this "cultural elite." He thus makes a major contribution both to our understanding of the Italian Renaissance and to our comprehension of the complex relations between culture and society. An excellent social history of the lives and culture of the artists and artisans which made it possible for the arts to flourish.