This article is based on a panel discussion on the future of transition countries 25 years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. All the contributors have long professional and personal experience of various aspects of the transition process so far and provide different perspectives on what to expect for the region in the future.

Little knowledge exists on difference in innovation behavior of men and women leading the SMEs in transition countries. This paper estimates whether there is a gender gap in SMEs innovation actions. Results show that propensity to innovate is higher among female owners and this finding preserves for 5 measures of innovativeness. Thus, female involvement in business might be beneficial for the innovative sustainable development of economy. Estimation of the gap in performance of implemented innovations did not reveal any strong prevailing gender in terms of efficiency.

This is the first paper to study the evolution of the gender wage gap in the Republic of Belarus.