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This paper provides an empirical examination of the relationship between fiscal balance and structural reforms using panel data from 25 transition economies. The results indicate that privatization and restructuring, via unemployment, affect the fiscal balance negatively. This finding provides support for ideas in theoretical transition economics that maintain that fiscal pressures are most severe in fast‐reforming countries. In contrast, price liberalization has a robust positive impact on fiscal performance. In addition, the results differ somewhat over different countries and transition time.

According to Teng Hsiao-p'ing (Deng Xiaoping), the current economic structural reforms conducted in the PRC are taking "the socialist road with Chinese characteristics". The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) Central Committee's "Decision on reform of the economic structure" of October 1984 has been landed by the Teng faction as a document that has "integrated the basic principles of Marxism with the practice in China". It is argued that the "decision", which contains some open renunciation of some Marxist theories and adopts some capitalist ideas, demonstrates the the Teng faction is taking the revisionist road. The PRC is beginning to imitate Hungary, Yugoslavia and Romania in taking the revisionist road. (DÜI-Sen)

Creating new government levels through structural reforms also changes the settings of institutional participation. In this article, institutional participation is scrutinized as a question of legitimacy in changing the local government by focusing on the effects of creating regional self-government. To investigate this question, this article utilizes a triangulation of data and methods through statistics, a survey, and interviews. By considering many viewpoints, it is possible to create a general view of the diverse interpretations of the question. The study shows that structural reforms not only change the structures of participation but also require organizational "sponginess" for citizen involvement in order to create a new, legitimate government level.

Abstract: The future of structural reforms in Latin America is under discussion. This paper synthesizes the facts and opinions that underlie this debate taking into account both the neo-liberal agenda and the views of the anti globalization movement. The paper pointing out that although the reform process has not ground to a halt, it has been incomplete and uneven, both across countries and different areas of reform. Next, the paper analyzes analyzes public opinion of on the reform process and points out that disillusionment with the reforms has been growing, particularly among the middle class and in countries characterized by high levels of corruption. The paper third section of the paper reviews the effects of the reform on growth, poverty, inequality, and employment. The paper summarizes the main proposals to expand or reorient the reform agenda in Latin America.

This article examines banking structural reforms introduced in the European Union (EU), placed in an international context. The concept of 'regulatory cascading' is put forward to investigate how European policy-makers tackle complex multi-faceted problems, such as that of banks which are 'too big to fail'. The article shows that partial solutions to the problem introduced in other areas of banking regulation, coupled with strategic activism at the domestic level by key EU member states have constrained the opportunities to design a coherent EU framework regulating bank structures. In response to the Commission's proposal for harmonised European banking structural reforms, the Council has stressed in its position two approaches that closely correspond to the measures adopted in France and Germany, on the one hand, and the UK, on the other hand.

A striking feature of local government reform in many Commonwealth countries has been a heavy reliance on structural reform, often in the form of forced local council amalgamation. This paper argues that the long-run success of structural change in local government hinges on several key factors, not least that voluntary rather than compulsory council mergers have a far greater chance of success. A second key ingredient resides in a high degree of local autonomy in both the composition and operation of decentralized governmental functions. A third vital factor lies in ensuring that revenue and tax assignment is sufficient to provide local government with financial autonomy. Finally, adequate powers of taxation need to be accorded to local government and this requires careful consideration of the types of taxes most suited to local government.

The article investigates the processes driving the ongoing Danish reform of the structure of the public sector with the purpose of understanding the factors rendering the reform possible at this particular juncture in time. For this reason, the article applies a theoretical framework consisting of John Kingdon's 'Multiple Streams' perspective combined with the Institutional Rational Choice approach developed by Fritz Scharpf, among others. As a heuristic tool for the analysis, the policy process is divided into the three phases of initiation, estimation and decision making. The analysis points to a rather complex process influenced by institutional and situational factors, including those of coincidence and external events. The process can be understood as a series of interrelated games in which bounded rational actors pursue their interests. In conclusion, the article finds that the speed and tight steering of the process left relatively little room for a broader public and political debate. The process leading to what has become the largest public sector reform in Denmark was in actuality determined by relatively few actors involved in decisive moments.

Este ensayo analiza cuatro libros importantes sobre los orígenes y consecuencias de las reformas estructurales durante las pasadas dos décadas en América Latina. El trabajo sugiere que necesitamos acelerar la integración de lo que siguen siendo cuatro diferentes subcampos de estudio: opinión pública, la política económica de la reforma estructural, los componentes del gobierno democrático y la naturaleza del diseño institucional. Cada uno es un elemento central de la literatura analizada y que está principalmente interesada en identificar los incentivos y las restricciones electorales e institucionales para la elaboración de políticas públicas que promueven el desarrollo. Este ensayo contribuye a esta agenda de investigación mediante el examen de las investigaciones en el campo de la ciencia política y de la economía que explican por qué sólo algunos diseños institucionales hacen que los gobiernos sean sensibles a las preferencias de los votantes y también construyan consensos en favor de las reformas estructurales.