CZECH AND SLOVAK ECONOMIC RELATIONS

In: The Pacific review, Band 45, Heft 2, S. 211-235

Abstract

THE FORMER COMMUNIST GOVERNMENTS OF EASTERN EUROPE PERPETRATED THE MYTH THAT WORKING CLASS SOLIDARITY HAD OVERCOME ETHNIC AND REGIONAL CONFLICT. THESE GOVERNMENTS HAD A STRONG COMMITMENT TO ECONOMIC EQUALITY AMONG ALL SOCIAL GROUPS AND ALL REGIONS, LEADING TO SUBSTANTIAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS FOR THEIR ECONOMICALLY LESS-DEVELOPED REGIONS. DUE TO EASTERN EUROPE'S DEMOCRATIZATION PROCESS, DEEP-SEATED REGIONAL AND ETHNIC DIFFERENCES HAVE RECENTLY COME INTO THE OPEN AND ARE NOW INFLUENCING THE PROCESS OF ECONOMIC REFORM. THIS PAPER IS A CASE STUDY OF HOW ETHNIC AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IMPACT ECONOMIC REFORMS IN PREVIOUSLY COMMUNIST COUNTRIES. SPECIFICALLY, THE AUTHORS EXAMINE THE ECONOMICS OF THE POLITICAL SEPARATION BETWEEN THE CZECH AND SLOVAK FEDERATED REPUBLICS.