The restrictions of a U.S. trade embargo and the collapse of the Soviet Union marked the beginning of a period of extreme economic hardship in Cuba. Economic adversity has had tremendous effects, both positive and negative, on all aspects of life on the Island, including environmental and public health.

In this study we analyze transitions to first marriage in Kyrgyzstan – one of the post-Soviet states of Central Asia. We use retrospective survey data collected in 2011/12 that contain full partnership histories of a representative sample of men and women in that country. We estimate hazard regression models to examine competing risks of arranged and non-arranged marriage among Kyrgyz and Uzbek...

1991 is a strategic year for former Soviet Union countries, representing the end of a system. A major historical change took place when Soviet Socialist Republics have decided to become independent states. But what happened to the institutions of these countries? Did they develop similar orientations of change or did they keep the previous models? Is it an exogenous induced change? Where did th...

This article examines what has changed in Russian law since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Among the accomplishments are the emergence of constitutional jurisprudence, the development of commercial law, and an increase in the basic transparency of the law. However, Russia is still not a rule-of-law country because the state is not subordinated to its own laws. T distinct stages of legal refo...

The Finnish Great Depression: From Russia with Love During the period 1991-93, Finland experienced the deepest economic downturn in an industrialized country since the 1930s. We argue that the culprit behind this Great Depression was the collapse of Finnish trade with the Soviet Union, because it induced a costly restructuring of the manufacturing sector and a sudden, large increase in the cost...

Ukraine, a nation in Eastern Europe, has recently become world-famous. Being the second largest Soviet-bloc country, Ukraine inherited huge amounts of Soviet legacy, including industries and militaries. Adding to its natural geographical advantages, most scholars at that time projected Ukraine’s economic take-off would be inevitable. However, truth unexpectedly disobeyed predictions: became slo...