After having been relatively mildly affected in the first wave, Eastern Europe is currently in the midst of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic with much higher levels of infected and dead compared to the spring. This health crisis not only has economic consequences, but also has contributed to political instability in parts of the region. Learn more on the presentations and discussions held at the SITE Development Day conference 2020!

Fragile states are particularly vulnerable to adverse economic shocks and in need of international support. Through constructive collaboration with international partners, however, fragile state governments can successfully pursue ambitious reform agendas for the short and long run. SITE and MISUM (Mistra Center for Sustainable Markets) invited the Minister of Finance of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Dr. Abdirahman Dualeh Beileh, and the Swedish ambassador to Somalia, Staffan Tillander, to discuss the role of international partnership in the recent development of economic reforms in Somalia.

As governments around the globe are continuing to enforce contagion management strategies to limit the spread of COVID-19, many experts are voicing their concerns about a different kind of pandemic. Alarming reports have surfaced from a wide range of countries suggesting significant increases in domestic violence, including one of its most prevalent forms – intimate partner violence.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown restrictions have amplified the academic and policy interest in the causes and consequences of domestic violence. With this in mind, the FREE Network invited academic researchers to participate in an online workshop “Economic perspectives on domestic violence“. Read the full summary from the workshop and learn more!

Policy brief: Today’s political crisis in Belarus has given a rise to the phenomenon classified in political science as political illegitimacy. However, this is not a pure political phenomenon. It causes adverse and severe economic adjustments. In a short-term perspective, it gives a rise to numerous risks of financial destabilization. Moreover, it is likely to deepen the current recession and make it protracted. In the long-term, political illegitimacy causes adverse institutional adjustments and erosion of human capital, which is likely to lead a country into a long-standing depression.

What are the developments of gender gaps in the labour market and social norms related to labour market activity? Authors from BEROC, BICEPS, CenEA, CEFIR, ISET PI and SITE discuss change of labour markets in the latest FROGEE brief.

Last year marked an important milestone as the world celebrated the 30-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the first post-communist election in Poland. Despite the latest developments, there is still a large democratic gap between transition countries that became EU members and other transition countries.

What do we really know about Putin’s Russia? How far will the Russian economy, military prowess and international ambitions go? Torbjörn Becker together with other distinguish researchers and authors provides a basis for assessing Russia's prospects without the distortions caused by fake news and disinformation wars in the new book “Putin’s Russia - Economy, Defence and Foreign Policy” edited by Professor Steven Rosefielde of University of North Carolina.

How important are remittances from migrant workers for the economies of low-income countries? And how does international legislation to prevent illicit financial flows affect the ability to send such remittances?

The Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) continues to expand - adding five new members to our great research team. Despite the current circumstances, it is our pleasure to welcome the new members at SITE.