IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ceh/journl/y2023v8p197-208.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

For the Ever More Complete Satisfaction of Workers’ Needs: The Standard of Living in Bulgaria during the Communist Period

Author

Listed:
  • Mathias Morrys

    (University of York, England)

  • Martin Ivanov

    (Sofia University, Bulgaria)

Abstract

We challenge the view that Centrally Planned Economies functioned well until the mid-1980s, delivering high economic growth and better living standards. As part of a broader research effort into living standards under state socialism, this paper focuses on nutritional evidence. Judged by calorie intake, we show that only in the 1970s did Bulgarian living standards surpass levels achieved already four decades earlier. Our findings are particularly discomforting for the rural population which was the big loser of collectivization and forced industrialization policies after 1946. Big Push industrialization reduced nutritional welfare in addition to coming at high human and societal cost.

Suggested Citation

  • Mathias Morrys & Martin Ivanov, 2023. "For the Ever More Complete Satisfaction of Workers’ Needs: The Standard of Living in Bulgaria during the Communist Period," Proceedings of the Centre for Economic History Research, Centre for Economic History Research, vol. 8, pages 197-208, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:ceh:journl:y:2023:v:8:p:197-208
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://csii.bg/series/2023-8/pdf/18-Morrys-Ivanov-197-208.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://csii.bg/series/2023-8/html/18-Morrys-Ivanov-197-208.html
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Allen, Robert C. & Khaustova, Ekaterina, 2019. "Russian real wages before and after 1917," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 23-37.
    2. Ivanov, Martin & Tooze, Adam, 2007. "Convergence or Decline on Europe's Southeastern Periphery? Agriculture, Population, and GNP in Bulgaria, 1892–1945," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 67(3), pages 672-703, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Matthias Morys & Martin Ivanov, 2024. "Did living standards actually improve under state socialism? Real wages in Bulgaria, 1924-1989," Working Papers 0267, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    2. Adam Tooze & Martin Ivanov, 2011. "Disciplining the ‘black sheep of the Balkans’: financial supervision and sovereignty in Bulgaria, 1902–38," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 64(1), pages 30-51, February.
    3. Kholodilin, Konstantin A. & Limonov, Leonid E. & Waltl, Sofie R., 2021. "Housing rent dynamics and rent regulation in St. Petersburg (1880–1917)," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 81.
    4. Boško Mijatović & Milan Zavadjil, 2023. "Serbia on the path to modern economic growth," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(1), pages 199-220, February.
    5. Kiril Danailov Kossev, 2008. "The Banking Sector and the Great Depression in Bulgaria, 1924 - 1938: Interlocking and Financial Sector Profitability," Working Papers 76, Bank of Greece.
    6. Matthias Morys & Martin Ivanov, 2015. "The emergence of a European region: business cycles in South-East Europe from political independence to World War II," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 19(4), pages 382-411.
    7. Kufenko, Vadim & Khaustova, Ekaterina & Geloso, Vincent, 2022. "Escape underway: Malthusian pressures in late imperial Moscow," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    8. Nikolić, Stefan & Novokmet, Filip & Larysz, Piotr Paweł, 2024. "Income inequality in Eastern Europe: Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia in the twentieth century," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    9. Aleksandar Shivarov, 2017. "Foreign Trade of Bulgaria during the First Half of the 20th Century: Development and Adaptation," Proceedings of the Centre for Economic History Research, Centre for Economic History Research, vol. 2, pages 115-128, November.
    10. Maciej Bukowski & Michał Kowalski & Marcin Wroński, 2025. "The Economic Growth and Regional Convergence in Interwar Poland: Detailed Historical National Accounts," Working Papers 2025-03, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    11. Nikolay Nenovsky, 2010. "The Bulgarian Economic Thought since 1989: A Personal View," ICER Working Papers 21-2010, ICER - International Centre for Economic Research.
    12. Jonas Ljungberg, 2025. "European consumer price indices since 1870," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 19(1), pages 29-80, January.
    13. Matthias Morys & Martin Ivanov, 2009. "Common factors in South-East Europe’s business cycles 1899 - 1989," SEEMHN papers 1, National Bank of Serbia.
    14. Kalina Dimitrova & Martin Ivanov & Ralitsa Simeonova-Ganeva, 2009. "Effective exchange rates of the Bulgarian Lev 1879-1939," ICER Working Papers 04-2009, ICER - International Centre for Economic Research.
    15. Albers, Thilo & Uebele, Martin, 2015. "The global impact of the great depression," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 64491, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. repec:nsb:seemhn:1 is not listed on IDEAS

    More about this item

    Keywords

    standard of living; consumption; economic development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • N34 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: 1913-

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ceh:journl:y:2023:v:8:p:197-208. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Ivan Roussev (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/csiisbg.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.