Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Building Market Institutions in South Eastern Europe- An Overview -- Abbreviations -- 1. Institutional Aspects of the South Eastern European Economy: Introduction, Trends, and Scope of the Study -- Background -- Trends in the SEE8 Economies -- Scope and Methodology of the Study -- Structure of the Study -- 2. Institutional Reform Progress to Date and Remaining Challenges in South Eastern Europe -- Aggregate Assessment of the Business Environment in SEE -- Institutional Impediments to Investment and Growth -- Conclusion: The Unresolved Institutional Problems in South Eastern Europe -- 3. Competition in South Eastern Europe -- Development of the Private Sector and Prospects for Competition in SEE -- Structural Conditions for Competition in SEE: Horizontal and Vertical Elements -- Assessment of Entry and Exit Barriers -- Business Performance and Competition -- Policies to Enhance Competition in South Eastern Europe -- Statistical Annex -- 4. Access to Regulated Infrastructure Utilities -- Tariffs, Access, and Quality of Service across Countries -- Infrastructure's Access and Quality across Different Enterprises' Characteristics -- Private Sector Involvement and Independence of Rulemaking -- Role of Infrastructure Development in Fostering Investment in the Real Sector and in Regional Integration -- Policy Recommendations -- 5. Corporate Ownership, Financial Transparency, and Access to Finance -- Introduction -- Forms of Ownership -- Transparency and Accountability in Firm Finances -- Access to Finance -- Financial Transparency, Investment, and Growth -- Policy Recommendations -- Annex: Additional Analyses -- 6. Resolving Business Disputes in South Eastern Europe: The Role of the Courts -- Avoidance of Business Disputes -- Contract Enforcement in Court -- Firms' Use of the Courts.

Perceptions of Court Performance by Court Users -- Judicial Corruption -- Policy Implications -- Statistical Annex -- Boxes -- 2.1 The European Charter for Small Enterprises -- 2.2 Challenges in Establishing a Working Bankruptcy Institution in Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina -- 2.3 Energy Problems and Setbacks for Reform in FYR Macedonia -- 2.4 Implementation Problems in Moldova -- 2.5 Water Challenges in Albania -- 2.6 Institutional Hurdles to Privatization in Bosnia and Herzegovina -- 2.7 Combating Corruption in Bulgaria through Public-Private Partnerships -- 2.8 Land Reform in Romania: Identifying and Tackling the Problems -- 3.1 Is Ownership Change Enough? -- 3.2 Variation in Number of Competitors -- 3.3 The "Home-Grown" Construction Sector in SEE -- 3.4 Market Dominance and Anticompetitive Pricing in SEE -- 3.5 Vertical Integration in the South Eastern European Food Processing and Retailing Sector -- 3.6 Weak Financial Discipline Delays the Exit of Loss-Makers and Distorts the Use of Capital -- 3.7 Brand Loyalty as a Barrier to Entry: The Case of Food Processing and Retailing -- 4.1 Uneven Playing Field in the Energy Sector -- 4.2 Utility Pricing -- 4.3 Electricity Crisis in Albania -- 4.4 Effect of Privatization on Infrastructure Business Users -- 4.5 Establishing a Competitive Mobile Market -- 4.6 Telecommunication Liberalization in the SEE8 -- 4.7 Preshipment Inspection in Moldova -- 4.8 Regional Energy Market -- 4.9 Regional Cooperation in Water Management -- 4.10 How Does EU Enlargement Affect Telecommunication Industries? -- 5.1 The Mixing of Social and Private Goals: State Ownership in Bosnia and Herzegovina -- 5.2 Postprivatization Concentration in Bulgaria -- 5.3 The Perils of Partial Privatization for a Croatian Firm -- 5.4 The Link between Accounting and Inspectorate Reforms in Moldova -- 5.5 Firm Skepticism of Audits in Albania.

5.6 The Pros and Cons of Barter in Croatia and Romania -- 5.7 Access to Formal Financing in Albania and FYR Macedonia -- 6.1 How Do Firms Avoid Business Disputes? -- 6.2 The Role of Business Associations in Resolving Commercial Disputes -- 6.3 Using Prepayment to Reduce Contractual Risk -- 6.4 Example of a Debt Collection Court Procedure -- 6.5 Which Firms Use the Courts? -- 6.6 How Are the Courts Perceived? -- 6.7 Disputes over Land Ownership -- 6.8 Resolving Payment Disputes with the Government -- Figures -- 1.1 Progress in the Transition of the SEE8: Small-Scale Privatization, Large-Scale Privatization, and Private Sector Share in Output -- 1.2 Registered Unemployment in the SEE8, 1994-2001 -- 1.3 Direction of Trade in the SEE8 -- 1.4 Inflows of Foreign Direct Investment in the SEE8, 1991-2003 -- 1.5 Institutional Development of the Business Sector and Foreign Direct Investment in the SEE8 -- 2.1 Aggregate Assessment of Institutional Barriers in the Business Environment in the SEE8, 1999 and 2002 -- 2.2 Institutional Progress in the SEE8, 1999 and 2002 -- 2.3 Changes in Average Employment by Enterprise Ownership, 1999-2002 -- 2.4 Firms with Subsidies and Arrears in the SEE8 under BEEPS1 and BEEPS2 -- 2.5 Assessment of Quality of Infrastructure -- 2.6 Largest Shareholder's Identity in Surveyed Firms, 2002 -- 2.7 Financial Disclosure and Transparency -- 2.8 Financing as an Obstacle to Enterprise Development -- 2.9 Aggregate Effectiveness of the Judiciary -- 3.1 Number of Competitors by Ownership Type, 1999 and 2002 -- 3.2 Number of Competitors by Country, 1999 and 2002 -- 3.3 Sales to Governmental Entities by Ownership Type and by Country, 2002 -- 3.4 Firms with Holdings or Operations outside Their Home Countries, 2002 -- 3.5 Expected Sales Sensitivity after a 10 Percent Price Increase, by Firm Market Share, 2002.

3.6 Expected Sales Sensitivity after a 10 Percent Price Increase, by Number of Competitors, 2002 -- 3.7 Number of Material Input Suppliers by Country, 2002 -- 3.8 Firms with More Than Three Material Input Suppliers, by Ownership Type and by Country, 2002 -- 3.9 Tenure of Supply Relationships: Firms with at Least 20 percent of Material Inputs from Suppliers Maintained for at Least 3 Years, 2002 -- 3.10 Reliance on Imported Inputs, 2002 -- 3.11 Key Barriers to Entry in SEE, 2002 -- 3.12 Average "Bribe Tax" Paid in SEE, by Firm Ownership, 2002 -- 3.13 Government Subsidies by Firm Ownership Type, 2002 -- 3.14 Government Subsidies by Sector, 2002 -- 3.15 Annual Changes in Sales Revenues, Exports, Employment, Investments in Fixed Assets, and Profit Margins, by Country, 1995-98 -- 3.16 Annual Changes in Sales Revenues, Exports, Employment, Investments in Fixed Assets, and Profit Margins, by Country, 1998-2001 -- 3.17 Annual Changes in Sales Revenues, Exports, Employment, Investments in Fixed Assets, and Profit Margins, by Sector, 1995-98 -- 3.18 Annual Changes in Sales Revenues, Exports, Employment, Investments in Fixed Assets, and Profit Margins, by Sector, 1998-2001 -- 3.19 Annual Changes in Sales Revenues, Exports, Employment, Investments in Fixed Assets, and Profit Margins, by Ownership, 1995-98 -- 3.20 Annual Changes in Sales Revenues, Exports, Employment, Investments in Fixed Assets, and Profit Margins, by Ownership, 1998-2001 -- 3.21 Distribution of Profit-to-Sales Ratio by Country, by Sector, and by Ownership Type -- 4.1 Infrastructure-Related Barriers by Sectors -- 4.2 Infrastructure-Related Arrears -- 4.3 Infrastructure-Related Arrears across Ownership Classes -- 4.4 Waiting Times for Infrastructure Services -- 4.5 Outages for Infrastructure Services -- 4.6 Unevenness of Waiting Times for Telecommunication Services.

4.7 Unevenness in Outages for Telecommunication Services -- 4.8 Unevenness of Waiting Times for Power Services -- 4.9 Unevenness in Outages for Power Services -- 4.10 Unevenness in Outages for Water Services -- 4.11 Urban and Rural Access to Water Services -- 4.12 Effect of an Independent Regulator on Performance Indicators -- 4.13 Business Use of Telecommunication Services -- 4.14 Telecommunication Development -- 4.15 Brain Drain -- 4.16 Customs and Trade Regulation Barriers -- 4.17 Export-Related Delays -- 4.18 Import-Related Delays -- 4.19 Ratios of Revenue Collected per Staff Person -- 5.1 Financial Transparency, as Reported by Firms, and GDP Growth -- 5.2 Privatization, Enterprise Restructuring, and Governance -- 5.3 Firms Reporting Use of International Accounting Standards, 1999 and 2002 -- 5.4 Firms Reporting Using IAS, by Size and Ownership Type, 2002 -- 5.5 Firms Reporting Using External Audits of Financial Statements, 1999 and 2002 -- 5.6 Firms Reporting Using External Audits, by Firm Size and Ownership Type -- 5.7 Prepaid and Credit Transactions -- 5.8 Barter, Bills of Exchange, and Debt Swaps as a Percentage of Sales -- 5.9 Percentage of Firms Using Barter, Bills of Exchange, or Debt Swaps -- 5.10 Factors Influencing the Use of Barter -- 5.11 Factors Influencing the Prevalence of Contract Violations by Customers -- 5.12 Percentage of Firms Using Bills of Exchange, Barter, or Debt Swaps, 1999 and 2002 -- 5.13 Methods of Financing New Investment, 1999 and 2002 -- 5.14 Financial Transparency and Firm Investment, 2002 -- 5.15 Financial Transparency and Firm Sales Growth -- 6.1 Confidence in the Legal System: Average across All Interviewed Firms, 1999 and 2002 -- 6.2 Duration of Debt Collection Court Cases: A Comparison of Transitional Economies -- 6.3 Lithuania: A Comparison of Available Procedures in Debt Collection.

6.4 Procedural Steps in the SEE8.