European Socialist Countries Research Articles

A Bibliography of English Language Articles on East European Socialist Economies 1981-1987

This Bibliography of articles which is a part of the continuing documentation work undertaken at the Centre of Study of the East European Socialist Economies, in the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune, India, has been prepared to help interested research workers with a list of writings published in English language, on the economic systems and problems of the East European socialist countries, namely, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia.

Land reform and farm sector restructuring in the former socialist countries in Europe

Land reform in former socialist countries is proceeding along the dual track of restitution to former owners and distribution to users. Privatisation of land is accompanied by restructuring of large-scale farm enterprises, where all the production assets and facilities accumulated during the collectivist era. Despite an impressive growth in the number of private farmers and the complete dismantling of collectives in some countries, farmers are not rushing to establish independent farms on private land. The majority prefer to remain in some sort of a collective, where they can combine the benefits of private production with the supportive framework of a larger cooperative organisation. The farming structure is developing toward a mixture of small family farms, larger multi-family or commercial units, and looser cooperatives and farmers' associations emerging from large-scale socialised farms. Copyright 1994 by Oxford University Press.

Health system reform in former socialist countries of Europe.

The health systems of all the former socialist countries of Europe are in the midst of far-reaching reform. The process is still in the early stages but certain patterns of finance and provision are beginning to emerge in a number of countries. All are implementing payroll-based social insurance while some are beginning to restrict entitlement to those contributing. There is a danger the process of restructuring will leave many without adequate insurance cover. Market solutions are being introduced in many countries to improve the efficiency of provision. Assuming the administrative cost is not too great, this may improve choice and quality of personal care. It is, however, unclear how far these solutions will tackle the fundamental public health problems endemic in these countries today. Those countries that have been slower to implement reform may benefit from learning from the successes and failures of the pioneers.

Technology Transfer in International Business (review)

BOOK REVIEWS. Paul C. Psaila, editor Agmon, Tamir, ed., Technology Transfer in International Business .............. 150 Andersen, Martin, Dossier Secreto .................................................................... 152 Aronson, Shlomo, Politics and Strategy of Nuclear Weapons in the Middle East and Findlay, Trevor, Chemical Weapons and Missile Proliferation154 Barnet, Michael, Confronting the Costs of War ................................................ 156 Bradnock, Robert, India's Foreign Policy Since 1971 ...................................... 157 Brubaker, Rogers, Citizenship and Nationhood ............................................... 159 Chandler, David, The Tragedy ofCambodian History and Brother Number One ................................................................................................. 161 Cooley, John, Payback: America's Long War in the Middle East ................... 164 Khong, Yuen Foong, Analogies of War ............................................................. 166 Lederçr, Ivo John, Western Approaches to Eastern Europe ............................. 168 Levine, Daniel H., Popular Voices in Latin American Catholicism ............... 171 Lieberthal, Kenneth G., ed. Bureaucracy, Politics, and Decision Making in Post-Mao China ........................................................................................... 173 Maclntyre, Andrew, Business and Politics in Indonesia ................................. 175 Mower, A. Glenn, Jr., Regional Human Rights ............................................... 176 Muravchik, Joshua, Exporting Democracy: Fulfilling America's Destiny ...... 179 Schraeder, Peter J., ed., Intervention into the 1990s: U.S. Foreign Policy in the Third World ........................................................................................... 180 149 150 SAISREVIEW Technology Transfer in International Business. By Tamir Agmon and Mary Ann von Glinow éd. New York, Oxford University Press, 1991. 285 pp. $19.95/ Hardcover. Reviewed by Hartmut Jacob, MA. Candidate SAIS. As part ofa prolonged research effort by the International Business Education and Research program of the University of South Carolina, Technology Transfer in InternationalBusiness seeks to explore the various dimensions oftechnology transfer in different aspects of international business. In general, technology transfer and international business are regarded as two distinct, but overlapping fields of inquiry. The purpose of this book is to explore the relationship between the two fields and to show that technology transfer and international business are highly intertwined. This collection ofindividual essays is divided into three main sections: the environment of technology transfer; various elements of technology transfer; and the practice oftechnology transfer in the Pacific area. Tamir Agmon and Mary Ann von Glinow bring together a diverse group of scholars with interests in these fields. The four chapters of the first section ofthe text deal with the changing global environment for international technology transfer, governmental concerns in relation to cross-border flows oftechnology, andthe historical dimensionofthe exchange oftechnology. These chapters representthe startingpoint ofthe analysis by placing technology transfer into a broad historical, economic and political environment. Since the 1950s, technology has emerged as a driving force of the integration and globalization of world business. A significant manifestation of the globalization process, as Denis F. Simon points out, is the rise of global companies, the transnational corporations (TNCs), which account for most of the world's commercially based transactions involving the movement of technology across national borders and for a considerable share of world trade. Technological developments help to generate economic growth and to increase world trade, both of which, as Raj Aggarwal stresses, reinforce the process of globalization. Globalization, however, can have an adverse impact on home countries , by reducing the control of home country governments over the transfer of technology. As a result, many countries impose restrictions to halt or retard the outward flowoftechnology. Forexample, COCOMwas afrequentlyused instrument by governments of developed countries to control the flow of advanced technology to the former socialist countries in Europe. COCOM not only limited the access of these countries to Western markets, but also penalized Western firms by refusing them the right to export to the area. Apart from national security objectives, as was the case of COCOM, intensified global competition for access to markets and technological progress often lead home country governments to restrict the flow of advanced technology to potential competitors in other countries. In many cases, technological advantages ofhome country firms last for only a short period oftime and, therefore, have to be protected effectively. Section two of the book identifies the channels through which technology transfer occurs; individual, spatial and organizational. Yair Aharoni focuses on education as the primary channel for the transfer oftechnology, be it international or domestic, and stresses the responsibility ofthe State for providing education or, BOOK REVIEWS 151 alternatively, allowing its residents to seek education elsewhere. Education is the most effective way to spread knowledge among people and a precondition for competing successfully in the global...

Recent vertical surface movements in the Carpathian Basin

Within the framework of the co-operation of the academies of sciences and geodetic services of European socialist countries, intensive and repeated geodetic investigations have been carried out with the purpose of revealing characteristic features of recent vertical movements of the area between the Urals and Eastern Europe. During the first period of investigations (the second half of the 1960s) the then available data from repeated levellings were used. Later geodetic surveys established a new levelling network of outstanding accuracy. By means of this net, the reliability of deduced velocities could be improved. Until now, maps of recent vertical movements were compiled twice at a scale of 1:1,000,000. Due to the above-mentioned investigations, recent vertical movements of the Carpathian Basin can be accurately described. This paper presents results for the main geologic and geographic units of the area.

Cuban Socialism

The process of socialist reinforcement initiated in Cuba in 1986 has taken the form of an indigenous political critique of trends which were employed during the period immediately following the revolution and which were damaging to the effective development of socialism. This critique attempts to rectify the course that was taken and the concrete errors that were made; above all, to pursue permanent, well-planned progress in all of society-progress of a socialist nature inspired by communism. The reforms which have been taking place in the European socialist countries as well as the international consequences and the present Soviet policy have in a real way affected Cuban rectification, and have made it especially difficult to understand the Cuban reality and the Cuban agenda without weighing the information and criteria specific to them. During 1989 various expressions of concern over Cuban positions and conduct were voiced or insinuated in such questions as: will Cuba remain isolated, fettered to an obsolete orthodoxy, while elsewhere socialism searches for efficiency and democracy through the liberalization of its political and economic institutions? Will Cuban leadership refuse to make similar internal reforms that would be advisable and inevitable? Has the Cuban system become outdated? Will the Cuban economy become inviable if its ties to the Soviet Union are radically altered? Will the detente that results from agreements between the major powers weaken the role of Cuba's antiimperialist stance? Is there an impending menace of internal struggles for the continuing leadership of the revolution, or of outbreaks of popular discontent? In order not to dwell on anecdotes and appearances-or be at the mercy of those that dominate the formation of public opinion-we must move on to more substantial ground: specifically to the principle characteristics and

A Humane, Democratic Socialism: Contours of a Modern Conception

Perestroika in the USSR, very profound reforms in East European socialist countries, and theoretical generalizations in recent years of avenues of development of contemporary society have made it possible to take a new look at the fate of socialism and to evaluate its past, present, and future more objectively.

THE RANGE OF AN AGENDA

The Central Institute for Higher Education of Berlin is introduced and a short history of the institution is given. Founded in 1982, it is an example of a centralized national centre for research on higher education, having had responsibility for higher education research in the whole of the former German Democratic Republic. In order for the Institute to survive in the new, reunited Germany, it has had to change its strategies and the scope of its investigations which will now be arranged around four major fields of investigation. Having acquired great expertise in the study of higher education in the former German Democratic Republic and also having done work on the higher education systems of the other European socialist countries, the Institute is currently well suited to continue its specialization in eastern European higher education affairs and to make very positive contributions in the future.

Foreign trade model of the centrally planned economies

This paper presents a linked econometric model of the foreign trade of seven European socialist countries grouped in the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA). The model aims at analysing the role of the international and regional trade in the economies of the socialist countries. The central part of the model is formed by foreign trade equations which allow analysis of the economic processes of the CMEA countries in relationships with the intra-CMEA and international trade. The assumptions of the model structure and some empirical results are discussed.

Specific urbanization in East-Central Europe

Socialist urbanization is not a new model of modem urbanization. East-Central European socialist countries replicate to the global process. The specific features of their urbanization result partly from their historical development—especially their belated urbanization—and partly from their political system. Behind the facade of East-West differences lies a common underlying pattern of causality: the modern process of urbanization. Capitalist and socialist political systems have different mechanisms by which to express the process but these result in similarities in long-term urban development.

The Border between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic: A Demarcation Line or Just an International Frontier?

In the era of glasnost and perestroika, one is confronted almost daily with new developments in European socialist countries, especially in the USSR, Poland and Hungary. Some States, however, have resisted the charm of Mr. Gorbachev and the lure of his policies. Rumania, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria each have their own reasons to fear the spread of what might reasonably be characterised as ‘socialist realism’ in the most positive sense, viz., an awareness that socialist States must confront the realities of late 20th century Europe in an honest and progressive way.

Who's who in the Socialist countries of Europe: . . .Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia

Who's who in the Socialist countries of Europe: . . .Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia

Fundamental Problems of Labour Relations in the Law of the European Socialist Countries.

Fundamental Problems of Labour Relations in the Law of the European Socialist Countries.

Book Review: Comparative Industrial Relations: Fundamental Problems of Labour Relations in the Law of the European Socialist Countries

Book Review: Comparative Industrial Relations: Fundamental Problems of Labour Relations in the Law of the European Socialist Countries

Mutual Relations among Firms, Local Labor Markets and Consumers in an Economy of Shortages: The Case of Poland

This paper is addressed to the performance of an economy of shortages under current conditions. It is concerned with only a certain aspect of this type of economy, namely the mutual relations among firms,local labor markets, job-takers and consumers. Although the paper describes the case of Poland, certain more general observations are applicable to other European socialist countries. The paper is concerned with two questions. First, it indicates some institutions and factors that affect the level of the price of labor in an economy of shortages, and compares these to a capitalistic, market oriented economy. Second, some suggestions are made to policy makers regarding changes that would improve the relations considered.

IMPROVING INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AMONG THE GEODETIC COMMUNITY

Recent activities of the Soviet, Polish, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Czechosiovakian and East German geodetic communities are discussed in a report on the 16th Conference of Representatives of Scientific-Technical Societies for Geodesy and Cartography (Socialist Countries). Work both within the individual countries and in collaboration with other member states is described and possibilities for strengthening international linkages are outlined. The present and future role of East European socialist countries in international nongovernmental organizations is examined as well. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA 22308 from: Geodeziya i kartografiya, 1988, No. 9, pp. 47-49.

A Revival of Commercial Law in the Soviet Union and Other European Socialist Countries

A Revival of Commercial Law in the Soviet Union and Other European Socialist Countries

Reform and Commodity Production

The economic situation in which European socialist countries find themselves today is regarded as quite complex. It might not be an exaggeration to use the word to characterize it. The growth rate in the early and mid-seventies began to drop, and economic difficulties and disproportions intensified. The socialist countries in Eastern Europe and the community as a whole were unable to adequately withstand the crisis in the world economy. In our opinion, this is not only a structural crisis but also a crisis of the existing economic model.

Stratification and Social Structure in Hungary

The study of social structure represents an important field of sociological research in the European socialist countries. At first, the objective of these studies was to revise the ideological model of society developed during the period of Stalinism, a model that distinguished “two allied classes”—the working class and the peasantry—and “one stratum” the intelligentsia. Later, as knowledge developed, scientific interest shifted from ideological criticism to exploring and understanding actual social conditions. The present paper briefly touches upon these ideological and scientific developments and makes an attempt to build a model that represents both the system of reproduction and the system of inequality of Hungarian society.

Agricultural policies and international resource allocation

The paper examines the effects of distortions in agricultural incentives in the industrial, developing, and European socialist countries. It is concluded that lowering agricultural protection in the industrial and the European socialist countries while reducing industrial protection in the developing countries would contribute to economic welfare overall by improving resource allocation in world agriculture as well as in world industry. These conclusions point to the desirability of multilateral trade negotiations that would permit simultaneous changes in policies.