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Toward a theory of the role of the state in market transition: from bargaining to markets in post-communism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Henryk Domański  and
Barbara Heyns
Henryk Domański
Affiliation:
New York University(New York).
Barbara Heyns
Affiliation:
New York University(New York).
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Abstract

State socialism is often analysed as if all institutions functioned in directions diametrically opposed to those in liberal Western states. A frequent assumption in both the East and the West, therefore, is that marketization and democratization require the dismantling of powerful, centralized states. This paper explores changes in the distribution of income in Poland between 1982 and 1991. As market reforms are introduced, power shifts from centralized to decentralized authorities, and from the state to the private sector. Market coordination produces new opportunities and sources of income for rentiers and entrepreneurs, but it also substantially reduces the income share going to direct producers. These data suggest that both economic equality and income determination depend on changes in state policy more than on fledgling markets. Dismantling the centralized state organisation is proved to be much less favorable for economic growth and a better income distribution than usual liberalism would claim.

On a souvent analysé le socialisme d'État comme si son fonctionnement était diamétralement opposé à celui des pays occidentaux. On prétend fréquemment, à l'est et à l'ouest, que l'économie de marché et la démocratic nécessitent le démantèlement d'États centralisés et puissants. Cet article examine les changements dans la distribution des revenus en Pologne entre 1982 et 1991. Parallèlement à l'introduction des réformes du marché, le pouvoir est passé à des autorités décentralisées et de l'État vers le secteur privé. La coordination du marché crée de nouvelles possibilités et des sources de revenus aux rentiers et aux entrepreneurs, mais elle réduit ainsi considérablement la part de revenu des producteurs eux-mêmes. Ces données démontrent que l'égalité économique et la distribution des revenus dépendent des changements de politique de l'État plus que de la flexibilité des marchés. Le démantèlement de l'État centralisé est bien moins favorable à la croissance économique et à une meilleure distribution des revenus, que ne le serait le libéralisme.

Der Staatssozialismus wird oft so dargestellt, als seien alle seine sozialen Institutionen denen der westlichen liberalen Staaten entgegengesetzt. Im Westen wie auch im Osten wird häufig behauptet, daß Marktwirtschaft und Demokratie sich nur auf der Basis eines dezentralisierten Staates entwickeln können. Dieser Beitrag untersucht die Veränderungen der Einkommensverteilung in Polen zwischen 1982 und 1991. Parallel zur Wirtschaftsreform wechselte die Macht zu dezentralen Behörden und vom Staat zum privaten Sektor. Marktkoordination schafft neue Gelegenheiten und neue Einnahmequellen für Privatiers und Unternehmer, aber sie reduziert erheblich den Einkommensanteil der Produzenten selbst. Das Datenmaterial zeigt, daß die wirtschaftliche Gleichheit und die Einkommensverteilung mehr von den politischen Veränderungen des Staates abhängen, als von der Flexibilität des Marktes. Der Abbau des Zentralstaates ist dem wirtschaftlichen Wachstum und eincr besseren Einkommensverteilung, wie es der Liberalismus fordert, weniger dienlich.

Type
L'âme russe
Information
European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , November 1995 , pp. 317 - 351
Copyright
Copyright © Archives Européenes de Sociology 1995

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References

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