This work uses household survey data from five Central Asian countries to analyse the important consequences of, and elements that constitute, the creation of a market economy. The countries studied - Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - had taken minimal action towards creating a market economy before the dissolution of the USSR in late 1991. From similar initial conditions they have pursued different post-independence economic strategies, making them ideal candidates for comparative analysis.