IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/pocoec/v14y2002i1p5-29.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Inquiry into the Early Drastic Fall of Output in Post-communist Transition: An Unsolved Puzzle

Author

Listed:
  • Jan Winiecki

Abstract

The early (drastic) output fall has been the major bone of contention among theorists in the early years of transition. This author looks at the issue from the vantage point of the communist economic legacy, i.e. so-called 'pure socialist production', unneeded under a less wasteful economic system. Excessive inputs, excessive investments, excessive armaments, as well as some other excesses disappeared in the early phase of a shift to the market (and democracy). Likewise disappeared trade with the former 'fraternal' countries, which also began restoring economic sanity and did not need 'pure socialist production' anymore. The article reviews the most often found explanations of the output fall in early transition and finds them much less satisfactory than the elimination of the 'pure socialist production' of the past.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Winiecki, 2002. "An Inquiry into the Early Drastic Fall of Output in Post-communist Transition: An Unsolved Puzzle," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 5-29.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:pocoec:v:14:y:2002:i:1:p:5-29
    DOI: 10.1080/14631370120116671
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14631370120116671
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/14631370120116671?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kornai, J, 1979. "Resource-Constrained versus Demand-Constrained Systems," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(4), pages 801-819, July.
    2. János Kornai, 2014. "The soft budget constraint," Acta Oeconomica, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 64(supplemen), pages 25-79, November.
    3. Siebert, Horst, 1991. "German unification: the economics of transition," Kiel Working Papers 468, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    4. Jan Winiecki, 2002. "The Polish Generic Private Sector in Transition: Developments and Characteristics," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(1), pages 5-29.
    5. Olivier Blanchard & Michael Kremer, 1997. "Disorganization," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1091-1126.
    6. Aslund Anders, 1994. "Lessons of the First Four Years of Systemic Change in Eastern Europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 22-38, August.
    7. Jan Winiecki, 1993. "Knowledge of Soviet-type economy and “heterodox” stabilization-based outcomes in Eastern Europe," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 129(2), pages 384-410, June.
    8. Gomulka, Stanislaw & Johnson, Paul, 1991. "The causes of recession following stabilization," Economic History Working Papers 21107, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    9. Kornai, Janos, 1992. "The Socialist System: The Political Economy of Communism," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198287766, Decembrie.
    10. László Csaba, 1998. "Transformation as a Subject of Economic Theory," KOPINT-DATORG Discussion Paper Archive 57, KOPINT DATORG LTD. Economic Research Division.
    11. Stanley Fischer & Alan Gelb, 1991. "The Process of Socialist Economic Transformation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(4), pages 91-105, Fall.
    12. Kemal Dervis & Timothy Condon, 1994. "Hungary - Partial Successes and Remaining Challenges: The Emergence of a "Gradualist" Success Story?," NBER Chapters, in: The Transition in Eastern Europe, Volume 1, Country Studies, pages 123-154, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Gregory Grossman, 1963. "Notes for a theory of the Command Economy," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 101-123.
    14. Stanislaw Gomulka & Paul Johnson, 1991. "The Causes of Recession following Stabilization," CEP Discussion Papers dp0033, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    15. Stanislaw Gomulka, 1994. "Economic and political constraints during transition," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(1), pages 89-106.
    16. Winiecki Jan, 1995. "The Applicability of Standard Reform Packages to Eastern Europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 347-367, June.
    17. Jan Winiecki, 2000. "Solving Foreign Trade Puzzles in Post-Communist Transition," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 261-278.
    18. Kornai Janos, 1994. "Transformational Recession: The Main Causes," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 39-63, August.
    19. Guillermo A. Calvo & Fabrizio Coricelli, 1993. "Output Collapse in Eastern Europe: The Role of Credit," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 40(1), pages 32-52, March.
    20. Lavigne, Marie, 1992. "Foreign trade in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union : , Ed., The Vienna Institute for Comparative Economic Studies Yearbook II. Boulder, CO, San Francisco, and London: Westview Press, 1990. xiii + 24," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 350-351, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Popov, Vladimir, 2022. "“Good” and “bad” GDP: Output fall in transition economies and the dead rat effect," MPRA Paper 115490, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Csaba, László, 2009. "A szovjetológiától az új intézményi közgazdaságtanig - töprengések két évtized távlatából [From Sovietology to the new institutional economics - meditations from a distance of two decades]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(9), pages 749-768.
    3. Laszlo Csaba, 2005. "Regulation and Public Sector Development: A Post-Transition Perspective," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 137-152.

    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. Jan Winiecki, 2000. "Solving Foreign Trade Puzzles in Post-Communist Transition," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 261-278.
    2. Nauro F. Campos & Abrizio Coricelli, 2002. "Growth in Transition: What We Know, What We Don't, and What We Should," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(3), pages 793-836, September.
    3. Raiser, Martin, 1993. "Governing the transition to a market economy," Kiel Working Papers 592, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    4. Perkins, Frances C., 1994. "State enterprise reform and macro-economic stability in transition economies," Kiel Working Papers 665, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    5. Stanislaw Gomulka, 1994. "Lessons from Economic Transformation and the Road Forward," CASE Network Studies and Analyses 0017, CASE-Center for Social and Economic Research.
    6. Grzegorz W. Kolodko, 2018. "Socialism or capitalism? Tertium Datur," Economy and Forecasting, Valeriy Heyets, issue 1, pages 7-36.
    7. Mehrdad Vahabi, 2001. "The Soft Budget Constraint: A Theoretical Clarification," Post-Print hal-00629160, HAL.
    8. Soldatos, Gerasimos T., 2000. "The Firm-Bank Interaction Regime and "Softness"," MPRA Paper 58203, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Ariane Tichit, 1998. "Reprise économique dans les pays post-communistes : application d'un modèle de durée," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 136(5), pages 73-92.
    10. Wladimir Andreff, 2004. "Would a Second Transition Stage Prolong the Initial Period of Post-socialist Economic Transformation into Market Capitalism?," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 1(1), pages 7-31, June.
    11. Stanislaw Gomulka & Danny Quah, 1994. "Lessons from Economic Transformation and the Road Forward," CEP Occasional Papers 05, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    12. Pavel Kadochnikov, 2006. "An Analysis of Import Substitution in Russia after the 1998 Crisis," Research Paper Series, Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, issue 95, pages 148-148.
    13. ter Horst, H.A.F., 1996. "Socialism, Capitalism, and Transition with Special Reference to Poland," Other publications TiSEM 58e2e881-80c1-45a0-8ce8-7, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    14. Justin Yifu Lin, 2007. "Development and Transition : Idea, Strategy, and Viability," Development Economics Working Papers 22709, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    15. Martin Raiser, 1995. "“Transition is a bridge, therefore do not dwell upon it”1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 3(2), pages 215-246, June.
    16. Charles, Sébastien & El Karouni, Ilyess, 2008. "La transformation postsocialiste chinoise : ouverture économique et contrainte extérieure," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 84(4), pages 391-413, Décembre.
    17. Raiser, Martin, 1992. "Soft budget constraints: An institutional interpretation of stylised facts in economic transformation in Central Eastern Europe," Kiel Working Papers 549, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    18. John Marangos, 2005. "A Political Economy Approach to the Neoclassical Gradualist Model of Transition," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(2), pages 263-293, April.
    19. Michael Keren, 2021. "The Soft Budget Constraint at 40: Alternative Perspectives on Its Origins," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 63(1), pages 139-146, March.
    20. Peter J. Boettke & Rosolino A. Candela, 2021. "János Kornai, the Austrians, and the political and economic analysis of socialism," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 187(1), pages 85-97, April.

    More about this item

    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:taf:pocoec:v:14:y:2002:i:1:p:5-29. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CPCE20 .

    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.