In our paper, we analyse the long-term stability and impact of remittances and development aid on sustainable economic growth in developing countries. We use two data samples from countries that were recipients of both aid and remittances in the corresponding period. First, unbalanced data from the years 1970 to 2017; that is, how countries appear in the data. Second, balanced data, where we selected the largest possible set of countries for which data exists without gaps from the years 1970–2017. This dataset consists of 57 countries for the period from 1991 to 2017. Using linear regression models, we conclude that up until the end of the 1980s, the size of aid as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) was larger than the share of remittances. After that, the situation changed and the shares of both inflows were broadly similar. The inflow of remittances was more stable than the inflow of aid and development aid did not (on the contrary to remittances) contribute positively to sustainable economic growth if we consider the entire period between 1970 and 2017. Our results suggest that a statistically significant relationship between development aid and economic growth (per capita) may be observed only in the period from 1990 to 1999. Economic growth in developing countries is negatively influenced by the uncertainty related to the flows of official development assistance (ODA) and aid in all investigated decades. In the case of the remittance flows, the increased volatility tends to contribute negatively to sustainable economic growth only when the remittance flows represent a relatively higher share of GDP.

The paper analyses transformation process in Hungary between 1989 and 2004. The goal of this paper is to analyze and evaluate the transformation process in Hungary. The structure of the paper follows this general goal. First of all, an analysis of economic development of the country before the fall of the communist regime is carried out because this determined the whole process which followed. Then we shortly mention political development that had a significant impact on the transformation process and its results. In the next part we concentrate on the main steps in the economic transformation, and consequently we devote space to specific aspects - privatization, for example. The main economic indicators of this period are analyzed in the final part. We conclude that the transformation process achieved its main economic goal and the economy’s ability to grow increased. At the same time, however, the transformation process created environment for the subsequent economic problems.

This paper addresses the performance of international trade during the centrally planned period in socialist Czechoslovakia and its consequences in the transition period. The goal of the paper is to determine whether the relative export competitiveness before 1989 positively influenced the performance of the enterprises in the transition period. To determine the reason for the low competitiveness of socialist enterprises, we use the oral history method, based on interviews with the then managers. We show that the level of competitiveness was influenced by multiple factors. Some of them were of a systemic nature, such as incentive structure, which did not encourage managers to pursue higher productivity, and others were related to day‐to‐day operations of the enterprises and a lack of Western technologies. Consequently, an econometric analysis is applied to determine whether there was any relationship between competitiveness in late socialism (ability to export to world markets) and production growth in the transition period. We expected that sectors that were able to export to Western markets during the centrally planned period were more successful after the fall of the regime. However, our findings do not support this hypothesis.

Transformation in Poland The paper analyses transformation process in Poland between 1989 and 2004. The goal of the paper is to clarify the most important steps in the economic policy that were carried out in this period. The structure of the paper follows this general goal. We first of all analyse economic development of the country before the fall of the communist regime because this determined the whole following process. Then we shortly mention political development that had a significant impact on the transformation process, and its results. In the next part we concentrate on the main steps in the economic transformation, and consequently devote place to specific aspects - for example privatisation. The final part analyses the main economic indicators of this period. We conclude that the transformation process achieved its main economic goal and the economy's ability to grow increased.

The Slovenian economy appeared on the brink of bankruptcy at the end of 2013. The situation was caused by high level of classified debts in state-owned banks. This can be seen as surprising because Slovenia used to be (for a long time) considered as a (textbook) example of the gradualist transformation approach. The goal of this article is first to describe the transformation process in the country and consequently to determine causes of the economic problems that resulted in the 2013 crisis. The article concludes that the economic problems were rooted already in the specific functioning of the centrally planned system in Yugoslavia. These specifics had a direct influence on the transformation process in the country and stood behind the application of gradualism. Among the most telling features of gradualism were slow privatization, cold attitude towards foreign investment and the foremost lasting casual economic environment caused by behaviour of the state-owned banks. My conclusion is that the country’s economic problems can be ascribed to gradualism and that they are a clear example of the path dependence development