The autonomous sector in a society of shortage

  • Horst Brezinski
Chapter

Abstract

It has become conventional wisdom that Soviet-type economies (i.e. socialist economies prior to decentralizing reforms), inevitably create shortages.1 It has also been recognized that in socialist systems there is an autonomous sector that grows in the shadow of the centrally planned system.2 This raises the question of the relationship between the autonomous sector and the socialist sector. I shall pay particular attention to whether the increasing inefficiency of a shortage economy also necessitates a growing autonomous sector. At the same time, my analysis will seek to illustrate the impact of the autonomous sector on a shortage economy. Before concentrating on these issues, I shall describe the characteristics of the autonomous sector in socialist economies and also the features of the shortage economy. I shall attempt to identify the principal determinants of the very existence and development of the autonomous sector in socialist economies. A general model will show how these determinants may influence the size and the structure of that specific sector.

Keywords

Socialist Enterprise Socialist Economy Shadow Economy Socialist Enterprise7 Socialist Sector 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Bruno Dallago, Gianmaria Ajani and Bruno Grancelli 1992

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  • Horst Brezinski

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