Inter-firm relationships vary greatly between capitalist economies as a result of institutional differences, especially in forms of trust and prevalent mechanisms of ensuring that commercial agreements are kept. The transformation of the command economies of Eastern Europe since 1989 and the intensification of competition in their major markets might be expected to destroy previous connections …
The collapse of state socialism in Eastern Europe has transformed many of the institutions governing state enterprises and was expected to lead to radical changes in enterprise structures and practices. This was especially so where ownership had changed. However, just as new constitutions do not create liberal democracies overnight, so too the withdrawal of the state from direct control over th…