In 1990 Mongolia, the second oldest communist state in the world, initiated a fundamental transformation of its economy and moved rapidly to a multi-party democracy. Unlike any other Asian economy it adopted the shock-therapy approach to transition. This book is the first attempt to provide a detailed examination of transition in Mongolia since 1990. It includes analyses of macroeconomic performance, the agriculture and industry sectors, the labour market and the emerging financial sector. It also focuses on poverty, gender, privatisation and the environment. The contributors to this volume argue that policymakers have exacerbated the painful transition process by underestimating its complexity and by pursuing inappropriate or, at best, overly optimistic policy reforms.