In this paper, we trace the academic debate on the transition strategies that former socialist countries have adopted and implemented in evolving towards a market-oriented economy through a comprehensive review of the preceding literature. The debate has developed as an argument between two conflicting reform philosophies, namely, radicalism and gradualism. Despite that a quarter century that has passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall, we found that academic discussion regarding these two reform alternatives has continued, and there is no sign of convergence. We also found a close relationship between the debate attitudes and the literature attributes, such as authorship, research contents and publication media.
