Unemployment in Capitalist, Communist and Post-Communist Economies

246 Pages·1995·14.485 MB·English

by  J. L. Porket (auth.)

UNEMPLOYMENT IN CAPITALIST, COMMUNIST
AND POST-COMMUNIST ECONOMIES
Also by J. L. Porket and from the same publishers
WORK, EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT
IN THE SOVIET UNION
Unemployment in
Capitalist, Communist
and Post-Communist
Economies
J. L. Porket
M
in association with
St. Martin's Press
PA LGRA VE MACMILLAN
© J. L. Porket 1995
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1995 978-0-333-61218-7
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First published in Great Britain 1995 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
This book is published in the St Antony' s/Macmillan Series
General Editor: Alex Pravda
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-39232-2 ISBN 978-0-230-37422-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230374225
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I
04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 95
First published in the United States of America 1995 by
Scholarly and Reference Division,
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-1-349-39232-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Porket, J. L., 1926--
Unemployment in capitalist, communist, and post-communist
economies I J. L. Porket.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-12484-7
I. Unemployment. 2. Unemployment---Government policy.
3. Unemployment-Communist countries. 4. Unemployment---Government
policy-Communist countries. 5. Unemployment-Europe, Eastern.
6. Unemployment---Government policy-Europe, Eastern. 7. Post
-communism-Europe, Eastern. I. Title.
HD5707.5.P67 1995
331.13'7-dc20 94-34872
CIP
To my wife

Contents
List of Tables and Figures Xl
Introduction XIV
PART I UNEMPLOYMENT IN CAPITALIST AND
COMMUNIST ECONOMIES
1 Theories of Open Unemployment 3
1.1 Market Capitalism 3
1.2 Command Socialism 7
Conclusion 9
2 Measurement and Rates of Open Unemployment 11
2.1 Measurement 11
2.2 Prewar Rates 13
2.3 Postwar Rates 14
2.4 The Natural Rate of Unemployment 17
Conclusion 19
3 Differences in Open Unemployment 21
3.1 Differences between Countries 21
3.2 Differences within Countries 24
3.3 Duration of Open Unemployment 25
Conclusion 28
4 Open Unemployment under Command Socialism 30
4.1 The Interwar Period 30
4.2 The Era of Command Socialism 32
4.3 Unemployment Compensation 35
Conclusion 36
5 Hidden Unemployment 38
5.1 Dimensions of Hidden Unemployment 38
5.2 Hidden Unemployment under
Command Socialism 39
5.3 Estimates of Overmanning under
Command Socialism 41
5.4 Overmanning under Market Capitalism 42
Conclusion 45
VII
Vlll Contents
6 Economic Reforms under Command Socialism 48
6.1 Options 48
6.2 Outcome 50
6.3 Soviet Union 53
Conclusion 54
7 Relative Economic Performance 56
7.1 Measurement 56
7.2 Unemployment 57
7.3 Inflation 58
7.4 Economic Growth 59
7.5 Standard of Living 61
Conclusion 64
8 Unemployment in Yugoslavia and China 66
8.1 Yugoslavia 66
8.2 China 72
Conclusion 75
PART II UNEMPLOYMENT IN POST-COMMUNIST
ECONOMIES
9 The Collapse of Communism 79
9.1 National Revolutions 79
9.2 Components of Economic Transformation 81
9.3 The Dynamics of Transformation 82
9.4 Preconditions and Consequences 84
Conclusion 85
10 Unemployment Compensation 87
10.1 The Social Safety Net 87
10.2 Unemployment Insurance and
Unemployment Assistance 88
10.3 Former Eastern Europe 90
10.4 Soviet Union and Russia 95
10.5 Albania 96
Conclusion 97
11 Registered Unemployment 98
11.1 Rates of Registered Unemployment 98
11.2 Composition of the Unemployed 100
11.3 Duration of Registered Unemployment 101
11.4 Causes of Registered Unemployment 104
Contents IX
11.5 Employment Situation 106
11.6 Output 107
11.7 Government Revenue and Spending 109
Conclusion Ill
12 Eastern Germany 113
12.1 Unification 113
12.2 Privatization 115
12.3 Unemployment 116
12.4 The Costs of Unification 118
12.5 Trade Unions and Unemployment 120
Conclusion 122
13 Soviet Union and Russia 124
13.1 The End of the Soviet Union 124
13.2 Post-communist Russia 128
13.3 Unemployment 129
Conclusion 133
14 Open Unemployment and the Population 135
14.1 Forecasts 135
14.2 Western Experience 136
14.3 Unemployment 138
14.4 The Nanny State 140
14.5 The Visible versus the Invisible Hand 141
14.6 The Speed of Transformation 145
Conclusion 146
PART III SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, PROSPECTS
15 Economic Systems and Unemployment 151
15.1 Unemployment under Command Socialism 151
15.2 Unemployment under Market Capitalism 154
15.3 A Synopsis 155
15.4 The Third Way 157
Conclusion 159
16 Participation in Economic Activity 160
16.1 Work versus Employment 160
16.2 Two Concepts of the Labour Market 164
16.3 Full Employment 166
Conclusion 168