Skip to main content

Why did socialist economies fail? The role of factor inputs reconsidered

Klein, Alexander, Vonyo, Tamas (2019) Why did socialist economies fail? The role of factor inputs reconsidered. The Economic History Review, 72 (1). pp. 317-345. ISSN 0013-0117. (doi:10.1111/ehr.12734) (KAR id:64425)

PDF Author's Accepted Manuscript
Language: English
Download (702kB) Preview
[thumbnail of EHR_Accepted Final_PFD.pdf]
Preview
This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.
Request an accessible format
Official URL
https://doi.org/10.1111/ehr.12734

Abstract

We re-estimate investment and present revised growth accounts for three socialist economies between 1950 and 1989. Government statistics reported distorted measures for both the rate and trajectory of productivity growth in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland. Researchers have benefited from revised output data, but continued to use official statistics on capital input, or estimated capital stock from official investment data. Investment levels and rates of capital accumulations were much lower than officially claimed and over-reporting worsened over time. A setback in factor accumulation, both equipment investment and labor input, contributed very significantly to the socialist growth failure of the 1980s.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1111/ehr.12734
Uncontrolled keywords: growth accounting, capital accumulation, Socialism, Eastern Europe
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Economics
Depositing User: Alexander Klein
Date Deposited: 15 Nov 2017 09:07 UTC
Last Modified: 15 Sep 2021 15:23 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/64425 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)
Klein, Alexander: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9026-3389
  • Depositors only (login required):