Privatization and economic restructuring in Poland: An assessment of transition policies

Poland was among the first of the Central European countries to attempt to transform its economy from a centrally planned socialist system to a market-oriented one, Although its International Monetary Fund-inspired ''shock therapy'' approach sought to transform the economy quickly, Poland's implementation of privatization of state enterprises, a keystone of the reform strategy, lags seriously behind other economic changes. Poland's experiments with privatization were derailed by economic, political, social and administrative problems. The lessons of experience from Poland's transitional period during the early 1990s are that the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises and the spread of entrepreneurial activity were far more important than privatization of state enterprises in moving Poland toward a market system.