Technology in Comecon: Acceleration of Technological Progress through Economic Planning and the Market

395 Pages·1974·32.89 MB·English

by  J. Wilczynski (auth.)

Technology in Comecon
By the same author
THE ECONOMICS AND POLITICS OF EAST-WEST TRADE
THE ECONOMICS OF SOCIALISM
DAS SOZIALISTISCHE WIRTSCHAFTSSYSTEM (German
translation)
ECONOM.IA DEL SOCIALISMO (Spanish translation)
ELM AL-EQTSSAD AL-ESHTRAKI (Arabic translation)
L'ECONOMIA DEI PAESI SOCIAL'ISTI (Italian translation)
SOCIALISTISCHE ECONOMIE (Dutch translation)
TOWARDS MULTILATERAL PAYMENTS IN COMECON FOREIGN
TRADE
SOCIALIST ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND REFORMS
REFORMA Y DESSAROLLO ECONOMICO EN LOS PAISES
SOCIALISTAS (Spanish translation)
PROSPECTS FOR THE EXPORT OF AUSTRALIAN FARM
PRODUCTS
PROFIT, RISK AND INCENTIVES UNDER SOCIALIST
ECONOMIC PLANNING
Technology in
Com.econ
Acceleration of Technological
Progress through Economic
Planning and the Market
J. WILCZYNSKI
Palgrave Macmillan
© J. Wilczynskil974
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1974 978-0-333-14590-6
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form
or by any means, without permission.
First published I974 by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
London and Basingstoke
Associated companies in N ew York Dublin
Melbourne Johannesburg and Madras
ISBN 978-1-349-01796-6 ISBN 978-1-349-01794-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-01794-2
Provehimur portu terraque urbesque recedunt? Quoniam
fuitante sub tranquillitate navigio, cuncta quae extrinsecus
sunt, ad motus illius imaginem moveri cernuntur a
navigantibus ac vicissim se quiescere putant cum omnibus
quae secum sunt.
N. Copernicus, De revolutionibus orbium caelestium
(1543)
As one leaves the harbour, do the land and towns
recede? As the ship sails in the calm sea, everything else
that the travellers see appears to be moving, and it
seems to them that they, together with their vessel, stay
put and remain the point of reference.
N. Copernicus, Concerning the Revolutions of Heavenly
Bodies (1543)
Janetae, Aniae et Sylviae - dono dedit
Contents
List of Tables Xl
List of Diagrams XIV
Preface xv
Technological Progress and Socialism
I I
A. The Centralized Directive System and Technology I
B. The Scientific and Technical Revolution 5
C. The Intensive Growth Strategy 9
D. The New Economic System and Technological
Progress 18
2 Labour and Capital 23
A. Manpower and Technological Progress 23
B. Capital Formation and Labour 31
C. The Utilization of Production Capacities 36
D. Structural Changes in Capital 43
3 Fuel and Power 50
A. The Fuel and Power Supply So
B. Coal, Oil, Gas and Electricity 54
C. Nuclear Power 65
D. Problems of Fuel and Power 72
4 Research and Development, and Production 77
A. Scientific and Technical Research 77
B. The Integration of Research with Production 86
C. Production Specialization and Co-operation 94
D. Industrial Integration and Concentration 99
E. The Adaptation of Production to Modern Needs 105
5 Computerization, Automation and Cybernetics 109
A. The Production and Import of Computers 109
B. Computers and Economic Planning IIS
C. Automation 122
D. Cybernetics 128
E. Shortcomings and Limitations 133
Vin CONTENTS
6 Standardization, Quality, Novelty 140
A. Standardization 140
B. The Problem of Low Quality 144
C. The Improvement of Quality 151
D. The Saratov and Do-Ro Methods 160
E. Novelty 165
7 Industry and Construction 171
A. Industrialization 171
B. Metallurgy 177
C. Machine-Building and Electronics 184
D. The Chemical Industry 189
E. Construction 196
8 Agriculture 203
A. From Neglect to Rehabilitation 203
B. Mechanization 209
C. Fertilizers and Land Improvement 215
D. Agro-Industrial Complexes 219
9 Transport and Communications 226
A. Land Transport 226
B. Water Transport 236
C. Air Transport 241
D. Containerization 245
E. Communications and Space Exploration 250
10 Technological Co-operation in Comecon 260
A. The General Framework 260
B. Co-operation in Research and Development 266
C. Specialization 273
D. Production Co-operation 280
E. Weaknesses and Handicaps 288
Technological Relations with Capitalist
II
Countries 296
A. East-West Transfer of Technology 296
B. East-West Industrial Co-operation 310
C. East-West Trade and Technology 317
D. Comecon and Developing Countries 324
E. Military Considerations 331
CONTENTS IX
12 Technological Progress and Ideology 348
A. Comecon's Achievements and Shortcomings 348
B. Socialist and Capitalist Capacity for Technological
Progress 353
C. Technology and Social Development 362
D. Technological Progress and Full Communism 367
Index 373
List of Tables
I Main indicators of the conditions for intensive growth in the
European Comecon countries 16
2 Percentage structure of employment in the Comecon
countries according to the main branches of the economy,
1950-1970 27
3 Proportion of national income devoted to accumulation in the
Comecon countries, 1950-1970 32
4 Growth of industrial producer and consumer goods in the
Comecon countries, 1950-1970 33
5 Factors impeding the attainment of planned production
capacities in the main branches of Polish industry in the
late 1960s 40
6 Reduction of the mandatory periods for the attainment of full
production capacity 42
7 Average annual rates of growth in the productivity of labour
and fixed capital in some Comecon countries, 1951-1968 43
8 Division of capital investment between buildings and
working equipment in the Comecon countries, 1950-1970 +8
9 Percentage share in the world production of primary fuels
and power in 1950 and 1970 51
10 Percentage share of hydrocarbons in total fuel and power
consumption, 1950-2000 53
II Output of black coal in the Comecon countries, 1950-1970 55
12 Output of brown coal in the Comecon countries, 1950-
1970 55
13 Output of crude oil in the Comecon countries, 1950-1970 56
14 Output of gas in the Comecon countries, 1950-1970 58
15 Total installed capacity of electric power stations in the
Comecon countries, 1950-1970 60
16 Percentage share in the world output of electricity, 1950-
I~O ~
17 Nuclear power stations in the Comecon and selected
capitalist countries, as of 1971 68
t 8 Planned capacity of nuclear power stations in the Comecon
and selected capitalist countries, 1975-2000 72