A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PERFORMANCES OF TRANSITION ECONOMIES: THE CASE OF BALTIC COUNTRIES

Abstract

This paper aims to comparatively analyze the level of human capital in the transition economies. In order to explore level of human capital in these economies, we used the human development indexes. The chief findings of the paper are as follows: First, transition economies’ progress in the transition process has different effects due to internal and external factors. Second, human development levels of these countries are relatively high in spite of a huge recession and very poor economic performance, thanks to previous investments made in social dimensions by previous regimes. Third, while the Baltic Countries which are among transition economies have also encountered serious transition cost since their independence in early 1990s, their qualified human potential is a chief factor in alleviating costs of the transition to market economics in these countries.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.em.17.1.2265