This text, in considering the roadblocks facing transition economies, focuses on a vital but generally neglected sector - large state-owned industrial enterprises. Despite significant strides in privatization, formerly socialist countries have all found it immensely difficult, both politically and practically, to dismantle large enterprises, given the massive unemployment and economic dislocation that would result. The first systematic genuinely comparative analysis of the biggest hurdle to the development of true market economies, this study, with its wealth of data and informed interpretation, will be essential reading for students and scholars alike.