Planning and Performance Socialist Economies: The USSR and Eastern Europe

by Abram Bergson

Planning and Performance in Socialist Economies brings together a collection of probing studies by distinguished economist Abram Bergson that provide fresh perspectives on economic processes in the Soviet Union and Europe. Pursuing a theme to which he has contributed previously, Bergson frequently draws contrasts with related Western experience. Particularly noteworthy is an initial inquiry that explores, in conformity with rigorous statistical procedures, the extent and sources of differences in output per worker among four socialist countries—the USSR, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Poland—and seven Western mixed-economy nations.

Other studies deal with income inequality in the USSR, technological progress there, risk-taking in Yugoslav self-managed enterprises, and other similarly critical topics. The volume concludes with a case study in the reliability of Soviet official statistics, and exposition of a novel approach to the measurement of Soviet defense expenditures.
—from the back cover

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989