University of the West of England

MODULE SPECIFICATION

(Revised November 2002)                   

 

Code:   UPEN4B-15-M               Title: Economic Transformation              Version: 1       

 

Level:  M                                  UWE credit rating: 15                           ECTS credit rating: 7.5

 

Module type: Standard

 

Owning Faculty: HLSS             Field: Economics         

 

Valid from:       September 2004                                    Discontinued from: 

 

Pre-requisites: None

 

Co-requisites: None

 

Excluded combinations: None

 

Learning outcomes:

 

By the end of this module, the student should be able to:

 

·         Understand and critically evaluate various economic influences, both internal and external, that shaped the old command economies of Eastern Europe ( component A)

·         Assess and appraise the various attempts at reforming the planning system and the difficulties of combining elements of the plan and the market (component A)

·         Critically understand the various alternative ways of introducing markets into previously command economies both in theory and in terms of the actual moves that have taken place in the various economies that have been studied (components A & B)

·         Creatively synthesise explanations for the controversies that surround the transition process in Eastern Europe (component B)

 

Syllabus outline:

 

·         Transitional theory and the ideological background

·         Business and economic change in Central and Eastern Europe. Enterprises under the command

system. The impetus for change. Ideologies and political expediency

·         Creating a "capitalist" economy. Models for development. The Western influence. Institutional

framework                                                        

·         Privatisation and its place in the reform process. Voucher privatisation in the Czech Republic and Russia. The Polish Mass Privatisation programme        

·         The role of foreign investment in EITs. Investment for development. Economic and political

implications. Examples and case studies

·         New economic relationships in Europe. The Comecon system. Changing trade patterns

·         Prospects for EU membership of EITs and country case studies.

 

 

Teaching and learning methods:

 

A variety of teaching methods will be employed in this module.  In addition to standard staff-centred teaching, students will be expected to contribute using their own research material and experience. Where relevant, video material and contemporary written source material will also be used to initiate discussion of practical policy issues. Students will be provided with detailed reading, resources lists and various materials used throughout the course. Links to other sources will be made available through on-line learning resources. However, as postgraduate students, those following this module will also be expected to find and use alternative material using their own knowledge and initiative. Students will be expected to put forward, rationalise, substantiate and defend points of view on controversial matters in class.

 

 

 

Indicative sources:

 

O.Blanchard et al., 1991, Reform in Eastern Europe, MIT Press and WIDER.

P.Boone et al. (eds.), 1998, Emerging from Communism, MIT Press.

EBRD, Transition Reports (various years).

Gros D & Steinherr, 1995, Winds of Change, Longman, London.

P.Hare, J.Batt, 1999, Reconstituting the Market: the political economy of microeconomic transformation, Harwood, 1999.

J.Isachsen et al., 1992, Basic Economics: the Transition from Plan to Market, Harvester Wheatsheaf.

Ed.A.Jones & W Moskoff, 1992, The Great Market Debate in Soviet Economics, M.E.Sharpe.

J.Kornai, 1990, The Road to a Free Economy: Shifting from a Socialist System - the Example of Hungary, Norton.

Lavigne M., 1995, The Economics of Transition, Macmillan, London.

Myant M., 1993, Transforming Socialist Economies, Edward Elgar.

Somogyi L., 1993, The Political Economy of the Transition Process in Eastern Europe, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham.

J.E.Stiglitz., “The Design of Financial Systems for the Newly Emerging Democracies of Eastern Europe”, in Clague and Rausser, op.cit.

Ed.P.Welfens, 1991, Economic Aspects of German Unification, Springer.

 

Journals to be employed in this module include: Economics of Transition; Eastern European Economics etc

 

Assessment

 

Weighting between components A and B                               A: 50%   B: 50%

 

ATTEMPT 1

 

First Assessment Opportunity

Component A

Description of each element                                                                Element weighting     

1.  An in-class assessment under controlled conditions (1 hour)                             50%

 

Component B

Description of each element                                                                Element weighting     

1.  2,000 word essay                                                                                          50%

 

Second Assessment Opportunity (further attendance at taught class is not required)

Component A

Description of each element                                                                Element weighting     

1.  An assessment under controlled conditions (1 hour)                                         50%

 

Component B

Description of each element                                                                Element weighting     

1.  2,000 word essay                                                                                          50%

 

 

SECOND (OR SUBSEQUENT) ATTEMPT Attendance at taught classes is not  required.

 

Specification confirmed by  …………………………………………………

 

Date ……………………………

(Associate Dean/Programme Director)