International business and institutional development in central and eastern Europe

Since the early 1990s, Central and Eastern Europe has attracted international business research into the interaction between radical societal change and business development in these emerging market economies. This research has effectively utilized institutional theories, and thus revealed limitations of similar applications in other contexts, while setting the stage for more refined argumentations, especially with respect to rapidly changing contexts. This introductory paper outlines both economic and the sociological perspectives on the influence of institutions on business, and thus sets the stage for this Special Issue. On this basis, we introduce the five papers in this special issue, and outline an agenda for future research.