摘要：Exchange rates were heavily distorted under the central planning system in Central andEastern Europe and are still adjusting in the transition process. The use of nominalexchange rates introduces a bias for international price comparisons and in calculationsbased on them. We present various exchange rates and discuss their relevance and usefulnessfor CEEC economic transition studies. We show that calculations of agricultural pricedistortions, protection rates and budgetary costs of EU-CEEC accession are sensitive to theexchange rate assumptions. More specifically, our simulations of EU-CEEC integration effectsshow that net exports are substantially smaller and budgetary costs less under the assumption ofcontinued real appreciation of the CEC-4 currencies. However, the calculations also show thateven under the extreme assumption of full adjustment to PPPs, the total budgetary costs remainlarge and GATT commitments on the maximum quantity of subsidized exports are still prohibitingan introduction of an unreformed CAP in the CEC-4.
