The Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development in Eastern Europe

In the process of economic transition, the former socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe have had to grapple with establishing an appropriate institutional framework for sustainable development. Market stimuli send contradictory signals to economic agents, whose interests sometimes drive them towards unsustainable development, including environmentally damaging production and consumption, and inequitable distribution of national wealth. The fulfilment of the criteria for sustainable development supposes the existence of a set of governmental and non-governmental institutions that play an active role in the harmonization of private and public interests. Results of this analysis in the region of Eastern Europe support the hypothesis that some of the basic principles of institutional conceptualization need to be adapted to the specific political and socio-economic environment.