This title evaluates reforms in the structure of intergovernmental relations in Eastern Europe since the breakup of the Soviet Union, focusing on eight recent EU accession countries: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. It reviews each country's response to the economic and political upheavals of the immediate post-Soviet era and their gradual convergence on a commmon "eastern European model" of intergovernmental relations.

Regional economic development is an interest of policymakers throughout the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region. One of its principal aims is to reduce poverty in lagging regions by stimulating local economic growth. However, problems exist with this approach. First, it may miss the target. Although geographical concentrations of poverty exist, poor people also live in regions that are on average rich. Second, the sources of the problem may be misdiagnosed. Poverty is not only related to where people are, but to who people are. In ECA, poverty is associated with low levels of education and...