This book provides a deep insight into the market changes and policy challenges that transition economies have undergone in the last twenty years. It not only comments on and evaluates the development of financial markets in transition economies, but also highlights the key obstacles to full integration of financial markets into the EU market.

Introduction The Spread of the Financial Crisis to Central and Eastern Europe: Evidence from the BIS Data; D.Mihaljek Are Product Market Structures Affected by Banking Concentration: Evidence from Transition Countries; F.Coricelli & M.Marc Financing Constraints, Credit, Rationing, and Financing Obstacles: Evidence From firm Level Data in South Eastern Europe; I.Hashi & V.Z.Toç Efficiency, Persistence and Predictability of Central European Stock Markets; L.Krištoufek Non-Linear Stock Market Comovement in Central and East European Countries; B.Harrison & W.Moore Cross-Country Versus Cross-Regional Convergence in the European Union: An Empirical Exploration; M.Workie Price- and News-Based Measures of Financial Integration Among New EU Member States and the Euro Area; J.Babecký, J.Feait, L.Komárek & Z.Komárková Exports and Economic Growth of East European Economies 1996-2007; S.Naghshpour & B.S.Sergi Inflation Convergence in The New EU Member States From Central and Eastern Europe; A.M.Spiru Persistent Differential Inflation Rates in The New Euro Member Countries: The Phillips Curve Before and After Adopting the Euro; M.Senjur Implications of Volatility for Uncovered Interest Parity Testing; A.Horobet, S.Dumitrescu & D.G.Dumitrescu

JAN BABECKÝ is Senior Economist at the Research and Financial Stability Department, Czech Republic FABRIZIO CORICELLI is Professor of Economics at University of Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne, France and Research Fellow at Paris School of Economics and at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), UK DAN GABRIEL DUMITRESCU is Lecturer at the University of Economics Bucharest, Romania SORIN DUMITRESCU is Lecturer at the University of Economic Studies in Bucharest, Romania JAN FRAIT is Professor of Economics, Czech Republic BARRY HARRISON is at Nottingham Business School, UK. He is a Faculty Professor at TiasNimbas Business School, the Netherlands, and is also Visiting Professor at the European University at St Petersburg, Russia ALEXANDRA HOROBET is Full Professor at the University of Economic Studies in Bucharest, Romania IRAJ HASHI is Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for Research on Emerging Economics at Staffordshire University Business School, UK LUBO KOMÁREK is Director of External Economic Relations Division, Prague School of Economics, Czech Republic ZLATU E KOMÁRKOVÁ is a Senior Analyst and the Advisor to the Bank Board Member at the Czech National Bank LADISLAV KRI TOUFEK is a Ph.D. Candidate at the Institute of Economic Studies at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic MOJCA MARC is a Teaching and Research Assistant at Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia DUBRAVKO MIHALJEK is Senior Economist in the Emerging Market Issues group of the Monetary and Economic Department, Bank for International Settlements WINSTON MOORE is Lecturer in Economics at The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados SHAHDAD NAGHSHPOUR is Professor in International Economics and Statistics in the Department of Political Science, University of Southern Mississippi, USA MARJAN SENJUR is Full Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia BRUNO S. SERGI is Professor in International Economicsat the University of Messina, Italy ALINA SPIRU is Lecturer in Economics at Lancaster University Management School, UK MENBERE WORKIE TIRUNEH is Associate Professor at City University of Seattle, USA, and College of Management in Bratislava, Slovakia, and Researcher at the Institute of Economics, the Slovak Academy of Sciences VALENTIN Z. TOÇI is the Chief Economist of the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo.