This paper investigates the relation between the 3-year GDP decline just after the transition in the 8 former socialist countries and the emigration before the transition from these countries to the West. We find a strong correlation between these two factors and also find a strong correlation between the length of stagnation and the emigration per capita to the West. The 8 countries are Russia, Belorus, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Rumania.
