The article uses business systems theory to analyse post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on Hungary. The article briefly reviews five models of post-socialist capitalism — liberal market, coordinated market, heterarchy, neo-colonial and comparative business systems. The article identifies four critical features of postsocialist transformation: asset ownership, capital accumulation, access to local, national and international production systems and the degree of differentiation between state and economy. Four groups — state, privatized, de novo and international — are identified in Hungary, whose business system is segmented, exhibiting a low level of integration. This segmentation is linked to the legacies of socialism, the political history of the transition, including the international context, and uneven post-socialist economic development. The article closes with a plea for `more history and less systems' in the comparative analysis of capitalisms.
Aidis, R.Entrepreneurship in transition countries: A review. Working Paper No. 61. Centre for the Study of Economic and Social Change in Europe, University College London, 2005.
2.
Akbar, Y. & Ferencikova, S.Industrial clustering and global value chains in Central and East Europe: Do multinational enterprise linkages enable industrial upgrading?Central European UniversityBusiness School Working Paper, Budapest, 2006.
3.
Allami Privatizacios es Vagyonkezelo Rt. (APVRT).About APV ZRT, 2006. Available online at: [ http://www.apvrt.hu/english/menu1/v22170.html].
4.
Allami Privatacios es Vagyonkezelo Rt. (APVRT).Privatization monitor, 2007. Available online at: [http://www.apvrt.hu/Englishhtml].
5.
Amsden, A.H., Kochanowicz, J. & Taylor, L.The market meets its match: Restructuring the economies of Eastern Europe . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994.
6.
Anderson, R.W. & Kegels, C.Transition banking: Financial development of Central and Eastern Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
7.
Antal-Mokos, Z.Privatisation, politics and economic performance in Hungary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
8.
Balcerowicz, L.Socialism, capitalism, transformation. Budapest: Central European University Press, 1995.
9.
Berend, I.T.History derailed: Central and Eastern Europe in the long nineteenth century . Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.
10.
Bishop, K., Filatotchev, I. & Mickiewicz, T.Endogenous ownership structure: Factors affecting the post privatisation equity in largest Hungarian firms. Acta Oeconomica, 2002, 52(4), 443—71.
11.
Blaho, A. & Gal, P.Hungary. In P. Desai (Ed.), Going global: Transition from plan to market in the world economy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999, pp. 135—71.
12.
Blaszczyk, B., Hoshi, I. & Woodward, R. (Eds). Secondary privatization in transition economies: The evolution of enterprise ownership in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2003.
13.
Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE).Budapest Stock Exchange monthly statistics, June 2007.
14.
Buzady, Z.Which club does your alliance belong to? An empirical classification of strategic alliances in post-transition Hungary. Journal for East European Management Studies, 2005, 10(2), 131—55.
15.
Campbell, K.Ownership structure and the operating performance of Hungarian firms. Working Paper No. 9. Centre for the Study of Social and Economic Change in Europe, University College London, 2002.
16.
Crouch, C.Complementarity and fit in the study of comparative capitalisms. In G. Morgan, R. Whitley & E. Moen (Eds), Changing capitalisms? Internationalization, institutional change, and systems of economic organization. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 167—89.
17.
Csaba, L.The new political economy of emerging Europe. Budapest : Akademiai Kiado, 2005.
18.
Deeg, R.Path dependency, institutional complementarity, and change in national business systems. In G. Morgan, R. Whitley & E. Moen (Eds), Changing capitalisms? Internationalization, institutional change and systems of economic organization. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 21—52.
19.
Djankov, S. & Murrell, P.Enterprise restructuring in transition: A quantitative survey. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2002.
20.
Earle, J.S., Kucsera, C. & Telegdy, A.Corporate control in Hungary. Budapest: Department of Economics, Central European University , 2001.
21.
Ebrd.Transition report. London: EBRD, 1999.
22.
Ebrd.Transition report. London: EBRD, 2005a.
23.
Ebrd.Strategy for Hungary. London: EBRD, 2005b.
24.
Ellingstad, M.The Maquiladora syndrome: Central European prospects. Europe-Asia Studies, 1997, 49(1), 7—21.
25.
Elster, J., Offe, C. & Preuss, U.K.Institutional design in post-communist societies: Rebuilding the ship at sea . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
26.
Eyal, G., Selenyi, I. & Townsley, E.Making capitalism without capitalists: The new ruling elites in Eastern Europe . London: Verso, 1998.
27.
Filatotchev, I., Isachenkova, N. & Mickiewicz, T.Corporate governance, managers' independence, exporting and performance of firms in transition economies. Economics Working Paper No. 62. Centre for the Study of Social and Economic Change in Europe, University College London, 2006.
28.
Fligstein, N.The architecture of markets: An economic sociology of twenty-first-century capitalist societies. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001.
29.
Frobel, F., Heinrichs, J. & Kreye, O.The new international division of labour. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981.
30.
Frydman, R., Gray, C.W. & Rapaczynski, A. (Eds). Corporate governance in Central Europe and Russia: Vol. 1: Banks, funds and foreign investors. Budapest: Central European University Press, 1996a.
31.
Frydman, R., Gray, C.W. & Rapaczynski, A. (Eds). Corporate governance in Central Europe and Russia: Vol. 2: Insiders and the state. Budapest: Central European University Press, 1996b.
32.
Giddens, A.Capitalism and modern social theory: An analysis of the writings of Marx, Durkheim and Weber. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971.
33.
Grabher, G. & Stark, D. (Eds). Restructuring networks in post-socialism: Legacies, linkages and localities. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
34.
Granovetter, M.Economic action and social structure. American Journal of Sociology, 1985, 91, 451—510.
35.
Gros, D. & Steinherr, A.Winds of change: Economic transition in Central and Eastern Europe. London: Longman, 1995.
36.
Grzymala-Busse, A.M.Redeeming the communist past: The regeneration of communist parties in East Central Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
37.
Haggard, S., Kaufman, R.R. & Shugart, M.S. Politics , institutions and macroeconomic adjustment : Hungarian fiscal policy in comparative perspective . In J. Kornai, S. Haggard & R.R. Kaufman (Eds), Reforming the state: Fiscal and welfare reform in post-socialist countries. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp. 75—110.
38.
Hall, P.A. & Gingerich, D.W.Varieties of capitalism and institutional complementarities in the macroeconomy: An empirical analysis. MPIfG 04/5. Koln: MPIfG, 2004.
39.
Hall, P.A. & Soskice, D. (Eds). Varieties of capitalism: The institutional foundations of comparative advantage. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
40.
Hamar, J.FDI and industrial networks in Hungary. Working Paper No. 13. Centre for the Study of Economic and Social Change in Europe, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, 2002 .
41.
Hamilton, G.G. & Feenstra, R.The organization of economies. In M.C. Brinton & V. Nee (Eds), The new institutionalism in sociology. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1998, pp. 153—80.
42.
Hardy, J.Cathedrals in the desert? Transnationals, corporate strategy and locality in Wroclaw. Regional Studies, 1998, 32, 639—52.
43.
Hedlund, G.Assumptions of hierarchy and heterarchy, with applications to the management of the multinational corporation. In S. Ghoshal & E. Westney (Eds), Organization theory and the multinational corporation. London: Macmillan, 1993, pp. 211—36.
44.
Hellman, J.S., Jones, G., Kaufmann, D. & Schankerman, M.Measuring governance and state capture: The role of bureaucrats and firms in shaping the business environment: results of a firm level study across 20 transition economies. Working Paper No. 51. EBRD, London, 2000.
45.
Heron, T.Regionalism across the north—south divide? EU external trade preferences, outward processing and the textile industry. Fifth Pan European International Relations Conference: Constructing World Orders , The Hague, 2004.
Hopner, M.Corporate governance in transition: Ten empirical findings on shareholder value and industrial relations in Germany. MPIfG Discussion Paper 01/5, Koln, 2001.
48.
Hungarian Central Statistical Office, 2003 . In UNCTAD WID country profile: [Hungary@ www.unctad.org] accessed 3 December 2007.
49.
Hungarian Central Statistical Office.Hungary in figures 2005. Budapest: Hungarian CSO, 2006.
50.
Iankova, E.A.The transformative corporatism of Eastern Europe. East European Politics and Societies, 1998, 12(2), 222—64.
51.
Iankova, E.A.Eastern European capitalism in the making. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
52.
Isachenkova, N. & Mickiewicz, T.Ownership characteristics and access to finance: Evidence from a survey of large privatized companies in Hungary and Poland . Working Paper No. 35. Centre for the Study of Economic and Social Change in Europe, University College London, 2003.
53.
Kitschelt, H., Mansfeldova, Z., Markowski, R. & Toka, G.Post communist party systems: Competition, representation and inter party collaboration. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
54.
Klapper, L.F., Sarria-Allende, V. & Sulla, V.Small and medium size enterprise financing in Eastern Europe. Policy Research Working Paper No. 2933, The World Bank, Washington, DC, 2002.
55.
Kornai, J. Highways and byways: Studies on reform and post communist transition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995.
56.
Kornai, J.What the change of system from socialism to capitalism does and does not mean . Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2000, 14(1), 27—42.
57.
Kornai, J.What does the change of system mean? Lecture to theCentral European University, Budapest, November 2006.
58.
KPMG/McDaniel, T. Of tigers, dinosaurs and gazelles: Defining competitive business models for manufacturers in the New Europe. Bratislava: KPMG, 2005.
59.
Krahnen, J.P. & Schmidt, R.H. (Eds). The German financial system. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
60.
Laki, M.Opportunities for property acquisition and characteristics of big entrepreneurs in post-socialist Hungary. Europe-Asia Studies, 2003, 55(5), 693—709.
61.
Lane, D.Post-state socialism: A diversity of capitalisms? In D. Lane & M. Myant (Eds) Varieties of capitalism in post-communist countries. Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, pp. 13—39.
62.
Lavigne, M.The economics of transition: From socialist economy to market economy, 2nd edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 1999.
63.
Lieberman, I.W., Nestor, S.S. & Desai, R.J. (Eds). Between state and market: Mass privatization in transition economies. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 1997.
64.
Locke, R.M.Remaking the Italian economy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995.
Major, I.Technical efficiency, allocative efficiency and profitability of Hungarian Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: A model with frontier functions. CEU Business School, Working Paper, 2006.
67.
Mako, C. & Ellingstad, M.Globalisation, FDI and modernizing management practices, Journal for East European Management Studies, 2000, 5(4), 341—60.
68.
Martin, R.Transforming management in Central and Eastern Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
69.
Martin, R. & Cristescu-Martin, A.M.Consolidating segmentation: Post-socialist employment relations in Central and Eastern Europe. Industrial Relations Journal, 2004, 35(6), 629—46.
70.
McDermott, G.A.Embedded politics: Industrial networks and institutional change in post communism . Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2003.
71.
Morgan, G., Whitley, R. & Moen, E. (Eds). Changing capitalisms? Internationalization, institutional change and systems of economic organization. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
72.
National Bank of Hungary, 2003. In UNCTAD WID country profile: [Hungary@www. unctad.org] accessed 3 December 2007.
73.
Nee, V. & Swedberg, R. (Eds). The economic sociology of capitalism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005.
74.
North, D.C.Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
75.
Ost, D.Illusory corporatism in Eastern Europe: Neo-liberal tripartism and post-communist class identities. Politics and Society, 2000 , 28(4), 503—30.
76.
Pajuste, A.Corporate governance and stock market performance in Central and Eastern Europe: A study of nine countries, 1994—2001. Working Paper No. 22. Centre for the Study of Social and Economic Change in Europe, University College London, 2002.
77.
Roberts, J.The modern firm: Organizational design for performance and growth. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
78.
Sachs, J.Poland's jump to the market economy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1994.
79.
Sako, M.Does embeddedness imply limits to within country diversity?British Journal of Industrial Relations, 2005, 43(4), 585—92.
80.
Schief, S., Kohl, H. & Lehndorf, S.National profile: Slovenia: Remarks to quality indicators and conclusions . European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions Workshop, Budapest, 29—30 November 2004.
81.
Schumpeter, J.S.Capitalism, socialism and democracy. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1951.
82.
Smith, A.An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976, reprint of 1776 edn.
83.
Stark, D.Recombinant property in East European capitalism. American Journal of Sociology, 1996, 101(4), 993—1027.
84.
Stark, D.Recombinant property in East European capitalism. In G. Grabher & D. Stark (Eds), Restructuring networks in post-socialism: Legacies, linkages and localities. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997, pp. 35—69.
85.
Stark, D.Ambiguous assets for uncertain environments: Heterarchy in post-socialist firms. In P. DiMaggio (Ed.), The twenty first century firm: Changing economic organization in international perspective. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001, pp. 69—104.
86.
Stark, D. & Bruszt, L.Postsocialist pathways: Transforming politics and property in East Central Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
87.
Stark, D. & Vedres, B.Social times and network spaces: Sequence analysis of network formation and foreign investment in Hungary, 1987—2001. New York : Department of Sociology, Columbia University, 2005.
88.
Stiglitz, J.E.Globalization and its discontents. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 2004.
89.
Stoica, C.A.From good communists to even better capitalists: Entrepreneurial pathways in post-socialist Romania. East European Politics and Societies , 2004, 18(2), 236—77.
90.
Tatur, M.Towards corporatism? The transformation of interest policy and interest regulation in Eastern Europe. In E.J. Dittrich, G. Schmidt & R. Whitley (Eds), Industrial transformation in Europe: Process and contexts. London: Sage, 1995, pp. 163—84.
91.
Unece.Outward processing trade between the European Union and the associated countries of Eastern Europe: The case of textiles and clothing. Ch. 4. Economic Bulletin for Europe , 1995, 47, 109—23.
92.
Unece.The ECE Economies in Autumn 2001, in Economic Survey of Europe 2001 No. 2. Geneva: United Nations, 2001, 1—45.
93.
Vedres, B.Pathways from postsocialism: Ownership sequence and performance of firms in Hungary, 1991—1999. Budapest: Department of Sociology, Central European University, 2004.
94.
Voszka, E.Privatization in Hungary: Results and open issues, 1999. Available online at: [http://www.cipe.org/publications/fs/ert/e32/e32_03.htm ].
95.
Whitley, R.Divergent capitalisms: The social structuring and change of business systems . Oxford: Oxford University Press , 1999.
96.
Whitley, R. (Ed.). Competing capitalisms: Institutions and economies, Vol. 1. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2002.
97.
Whitley, R.How national are business systems? The role of states and complementary institutions in standardizing systems of economic coordination and control at the national level. In G. Morgan, R. Whitley & E. Moen (Eds), Changing capitalisms? Internationalization, institutional change and systems of economic organization. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
98.
Williamson, O.E.The economic institutions of capitalism. New York: The Free Press, 1985.
99.
Zysman, J.Governments, markets and growth. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1983.
