Household Financial Fragility and External Shocks: A Central and Eastern European Perspective (Routledge Studies in Central and Eastern European Business and Economics)

Over the past three decades, Central and Eastern Europe has experienced rapid economic transformation, accelerated by accession to the European Union and deeper integration into global financial markets.While improved access to credit has supported rising living standards, it has also increased households’ exposure to financial fragility when economic shocks occur. This book investigates the financial fragility of households in the region, offering new insights into how households cope with economic shocks and structural change.Despite shared experience of post-socialist transformation, Central and Eastern European countries display significant economic, social, and institutional diversity.This raises important questions: do households across the region differ in their levels of financial fragility?Which socio-demographic groups are most vulnerable? What factors shape household resilience to economic shocks?Combining conceptual discussion with comparative empirical analysis, the book e