Homo Oeconomcus in Socialist Bulgaria

The research question of the paper is: does the concept of homo economiocus is adequate for understanding the economic behavior of people under Marxian politico-economic system? The answer is based on research of primary archival sources on the activities of several socialist enterprises in Bulgaria. The author found that some activities of the socialist enterprises management or individuals are completely understandable and rational. Among them are: the desire to exploit common property for private benefit, the use of non-economic coercion in some sectors, the labor shortages in others, the desire of workers to receive higher incomes for less work, etc. Other actions, however, if taken out of context appear irrational: poor production organization, systemic low quality problems, an “epidemic” of reluctance to work, etc. They do not seem to serve the interests of homo oeconomicus as they do not result in higher incomes. Most important explaining factor of irrationality is the main characteristic of the socialist economy: absence of private ownership of the means of production. It removes the incentives to work and to improve organization and production quality. Seen in this light, all the above mentioned characteristics of the economic reality in socialist Bulgaria are completely rational. For this reason, the theoretical construction homo oeconomicus is suitable both for understanding the past and for predicting the possible results of market mechanisms elimination in the future.