The aim of the paper is to analysis, through a cross-sector and cross-country approach, the way in which firms in less-advanced transforming economies are restructured. Compared with more advanced economies, where different kind of privatization schemes have been experienced, in Bulgaria, Albania and Romania, adjusting to the new market environment has followed different paths (weak macrostabilization policies, lack of a comprehensive programme), which have led to a kind of defensive restructuring. In this paper, we look at the way in which firms in different sectors have reacted. The main economic and political factors that slow the process are analyzed
