"Two New Leaders: Will It Make a Difference?" Harvard-Columbia Arden House Conference on American-Russian Relations

March 16–18 2001, Arden House Conference Center, Harriman, New York, United States

Participants included Timothy Colton, Andrei Illarionov, Marshall Shulman, Grigory Yavlinsky, Padma Desai, and Marshall I. Goldman.

April 22–24, 2001, Hilton London Metropole Hotel and Conference Centre, London, United Kingdom

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) held its 10th annual meeting in London April 22–24, 2001. The occasion marked the 10th anniversary of the start of the bank’s operations. The theme of this year’s conference was "Ten Years of Investing for Economic Growth and Transition." The EBRD Business Forum, held alongside the annual meeting, comprises a series of seminars, roundtables, and debates on the countries in which the EBRD invests.

May 1–2, 2001, Washington, D.C., United States

Opening address by World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn, keynote address by World Bank Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Nicholas H. Stern.

Session One: Globalization and Inequality (Kevin O’Rourke, Trinity College, Dublin; Daniel Cohen, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris; Richard N. Cooper, Harvard University; and Anthony Venables, London School of Economics).

Session Two: Health and Development (Morten Rostrup, Medecins sans Frontières; Jean O. Lanjouw, Yale University; Anne Case, Princeton University; and Tomas J. Philipson, University of Chicago).

Four parallel workshop sessions will be held each afternoon. Participation by non-Bank and non-IMF staff by invitation only.

Information: Boris Pleskovic, Research Administrator, Development Economics Vice Presidency, Room MC 4-402, World Bank, 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, tel.: 202-473-1062, fax: 202-522-0304, Email: bpleskovic@world bank.org, Web site: http://www.worldbank. org/research/abcde/.

June 1–3, 2001, Volos, Greece

Organizer: South and East European Development Center of the University of Thessaly, Greece (SEED).

Participants in this international conference will discuss the situation in the Balkan region and try to answer several open questions: Will Western-type growth and prosperity levels eventually be reached in Eastern and Southern Europe, or are old divisions simply being replaced by new ones with respect to levels of development and economic structure? Why has performance in the Balkan countries been so different from performance in Central Europe? Why did the Balkans fail in many respects in their transition from plan to market? Are domestic policy failures or unfavorable initial conditions and geography responsible for their poor performance? What has been the policy response of the European Union and other international organizations? Is this policy response adequately designed and implemented? What are the goals, composition, impact, and future of the Stability Pact? The conference will attract development experts, policymakers, and leading academics.

The Sixth Annual International Conference on Transition Economics,

June 23–26, 2001, Portoroz, Slovenia

Sponsored by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and the William Davidson Institute, this conference will create a forum in which leading transition economists from different universities and countries can present new research, meet and develop long-term collaborative relationships, and complete ongoing research.

June 27–July 5, 2001, Portoroz, Slovenia

Sponsored by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), this workshop, a follow-up to the international conference, will promote the research activities of Ph.D. students and recent Ph.D.s from both the EU and Phare countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Young academics will receive feedback on their work in progress from established academics in the field and from one another. The workshop is organized by Mark Schaffer, Centre for Economic Reform and Transformation, Heriot-Watt University; Janez Prasnikar, Research Center of the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana; and Gérard Roland, ECARES.

Information: www.cepr.org.

September 10–16, 2001, Nitra, Slovakia

Organizers: Consortium of Chair of Resource Economics, Germany; Agricultural University of Nitra, Slovakia; and the Food and Agriculture Organization Subregional Office for Central and Eastern Europe in Budapest, Hungary.

Call for papers: Papers should address the following questions:

Deadline: May 15, 2001. Abstract must be written in English and sent electronically in Microsoft Word format to the Seminar Secretariat in Berlin. Abstract should include the names of all authors, with the surname of the paper presenter typed in capitals; the Email addresses of all authors; and the institutional affiliations and mailing addresses of all authors. Abstracts should contain no symbols, references, or equations.

Information: Dr. Pavol Stehlo, Research Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, Cesto pod zlatym brehom, 94901 Nitra, Slovakia, tel.: 421-87-6512-180, fax: 421-87-6512-180, Email: vuep p1@nr.sanet.sk,or Franz Gatzweiler and Renate Judis, Chair of Resource Economics, Department of Agricultural Economics and Social Sciences, Humboldt University of Berlin, D-10099, Berlin, Luisenstr. 56, tel.: 49030-2093-6145, fax: 49030-2093-6339, Email: renate.judis @agrar.hu-berlin.de, Web site: http://www.ceesa.de.

December 5–7, 2001, Arcotel Hotel Wimberger, Vienna, Austria

The ninth annual conference of the Kellstadt Center for Marketing Analysis and Planning, DePaul University, Chicago and the Department of International Business, University of Economics and Business Administration, Vienna. Empirical research, and case studies are sought that address such topics as comparative analysis of conditions of market entry in Central and Eastern Europe, market entry through exports versus market entry through capital investment, acquisitions versus joint ventures, marketing strategies to reach consumers in the region, marketing-mix decisions for markets in the region, financial strategies for opening markets in the region, and case studies of experiences by Western firms in Central and Eastern Europe. Abstracts of the papers, in English, should be received by September 10, 2001. Final papers must be ready by November 1, 2001.

Information: Prof. Dr. Reiner Springer, Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Althanstr. 51, 1090 Wien, Austria, tel.: 43-1-313 36/4371, fax: 43-1-313 36/751, Email: Reiner.Springer@wu-wien.ac.at, or Prof. Petr Chadraba, Kellstadt Center for Marketing Analysis and Planning DePaul University, 1 East Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, tel.: 312-362-6200, fax: 312-362-5647, Email: pcha drab@wppost.depaul.edu.