We are pleased to present the first issue of our journal under the title Economics of Transition and InstitutionalChange (ETIC). The Board of Editors has decided to enhance the journal title in response to important changes in the research community.

For more than 25 years, Economics of Transition has published papers on a multitude of economic issues relevant for the formerly socialist economies and their transformation process. The range of work in this period has been impressive, from macro and stabilization papers, to privatization, the reform of labor markets and social policies, foreign direct investment and many others. A virtual issue, published on our website, collects some of the papers that had the largest impact.

The decision to enhance the title of the journal has been triggered by two developments.

First, at the outset of transition, there has been a consensus about what needed to be done in macro- and micro-economic terms, but over time, challenges came to the forefront that may have been underestimated at the outset. To name but a few: institution building, the role of norms, culture and history, the difficult process of democratization, and political reversals in some countries, the role of conflict, increasing inequality.

Second, over the last years, we have increasingly received contributions that come from outside the classical transition countries, and we have realized that the research agenda of many of our authors has become broader. Beyond the classical questions of transition, we perceive a substantial interest for the institutional determinants of economic outcomes, and for the dynamics of institutions including, but going beyond the scope of, the formerly socialist countries. Not only are different regions affected, for instance the Middle East and North African countries, but there is also an increasing interest ineconomic history and its significance for contemporaneous challenges.

This issue is representative for these developments. It contains papers that focus on Russia and China, but also a paper on the Arab spring, and another on Georgia, interesting cases highlighting the manifold transformations that we have witnessed over the last decades. Some of the contributions look at cross-country evidence, and others make theoretical points. The topics span abroad range: labor issues, public economics, foreign direct investment,political economy, institutions, property rights, culture, and democracy. All of the papers are bound together by the joint interest in better understanding the complex mechanisms through which institutions affect economic, politicaland societal outcomes. 

We believe that the enhanced title reflects the fascinating research agenda of the community of our authors and readers better than before, and we believe that by taking this into account in the new title, we can further improve the visibility of the journal. We would like to thank all authors, referees, and readers for their continuing support.