This is the first book to specify the type of economic system that has arisen in Central Asia, replacing the simplistic ideas of "petro-state" or "resource dependent."
The book presents three types of state capitalism now established in the former Soviet Union states of Eurasia — crony, dual-sector, and predatory capitalism. It provides first-hand research based on extensive interviewing in the native languages in five of the six. From the political economic perspective, it surveys the source of resources for these authoritarian regimes, their decision-making, and the disposition of government funds, including corruption.
Martin C Spechler is Professor of Economics and faculty affiliate of the Russian and East European Institute, Indiana University. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard University (PhD, Economics) and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. During the 1970's and 1980's, he served as an economic expert for NATO.
Joachim Ahrens holds a doctoral and a habilitation degree from the University of Goettingen. Following research affiliations at Harvard University, the Hoover Institution/Stanford University, and the University of California/Berkeley, he worked as an economist at the Asian Development Bank in Manila and as a visiting scholar at the East-West Center in Honolulu, HI. In 2003, he accepted a position as Professor of International Political Economy at the European Business School International University, Oestrich-Winkel, Germany.
Herman W Hoen is Professor of International Political Economy at the University of Groningen (The Netherlands). His research focusses on the transformation from a centrally-planned to a market economy in Eastern Europe and the successor states of the Soviet Union.
