The changes which led to the emergence of China as a global economic powerhouse, the integration of ten Central and Eastern European countries into the European Union (EU) and the uncertain path of Russia towards a market economy all started with the agricultural reforms in the Chinese countryside in the late 1970s. Since then, the changes have occurred so fast and the impact has been so vast that the importance of understanding the forces that unleashed this process, how these changes became possible, and the lessons for other developing countries cannot be overestimated. This book analyzes the economics and politics of agricultural reforms by comparing reform processes, their causes and effects across this vast region. The authors draw on a wide range of studies and new data, which compare reforms and economic impacts in more than 25 countries. They present a series of conclusions and implications on the role of economic reforms in growth, and the importance of initial conditions and political constraints in explaining the choices that were made and their effects.