European Bank for Reconstruction and Development – Innovation in Transition: “How can firms in transition countries become more  productive? And how can a dynamic and innovative  business sector help countries grow? This year’s Transition Report seeks answers to these important  questions by analysing firm-level innovation across the  transition region. The Transition Report 2014 exploits a unique enterprise survey that for the first time unlocks detailed information on how firms innovate by introducing new products, new production processes, new ways of organising themselves and fresh approaches to marketing their products and services. The report also takes stock of firms’ investments in research and development (R&D) and provides new insights into how managerial practices influence a firm’s productivity. A key idea put forward in this report is that regardless of a country’s level of economic development or its progress along the transition path, individual firms can make a difference. Even in countries that seem “stuck in transition” – a central concept in last year’s Transition Report – managers can make decisions that have a profound impact on the efficiency and productivity of the businesses they run. Yet, in order to establish which actions are most beneficial – R&D, adopting products that have been developed elsewhere or improving management practices – it is necessary to know more about the business environment in which a firm operates. Against this background, the first four chapters of the report examine the link between innovation and productivity and look at factors that drive innovation occurring both within the firm and externally. Special attention is paid to firms’ access to finance for facilitating innovation. Lastly, Chapter 5 takes stock of how policy-makers can help create the right conditions for firm-level innovation to flourish. The last two sections of the report examine recent regional macroeconomic developments, provide an economic outlook for the transition region and discuss recent trends in structural reforms during 2013-14. Assessments of economic developments and structural reform in individual countries across the region are  available online at tr.ebrd.com“