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Estimates of Changes in Real Wages in Poland During the 1960s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2017

Bogdan Mieczkowski
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“The productive effort of society,” Communist mythology avers, “has as its goal the provision of increasingly abundant amounts of consumer goods. Moreover, that is the ultimate aim of all production. It should be noted that in a socialist economy, in contrast with systems based on private ownership of the means of production, it becomes a direct goal.” It is also said that “the aim of the socialist economy is full satisfaction of the needs of the population.” One would expect that the fulfillment of this aim would be accompanied by a substantial rise in real wages. The purpose of this note is to check whether that logical conclusion applies to changes in real wages in Poland, by comparing two recent independent estimates—one by W. Krencik, published in Gospodarka Planowa, the Polish economic journal devoted to problems of planning, and the other by the present writer, published in Soviet Studies.

Type
Notes and Comment
Information
Slavic Review , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , September 1972 , pp. 651 - 656
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. 1972

References

1. Ryć, K., “Produkcja a konsumpeja” [Production vs. Consumption], Nowe Drogi, 1971, no. 3, p. 123 Google Scholar (Nowe Drogi is the ideological monthly of the Communist Party). E. Wiszniewski, “Pozycja konsumenta” [The Place of the Consumer], Życie Gospodarcse, 1971, no. 22 (Życie Gospodarcze is the economic weekly, perhaps the best source of polemics on current economic problems).

2. Krencik, W., “Cele i środki strategii intensywnego rozwoju” [Aims and Means of the Strategy of Intensive Development], Gospodarka Planowa, 1971, no. 4, pp. 206–11Google Scholar. Mieczkovvski, B, “Recent Discussion on Consumption Planning in Poland,” Soviet Studies, 22, no. 4 (April 1971) : 609–11 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Supporting footnotes can be found in that publication.

3. This figure refers to the socialized sector (and not to agriculture), where employment during 1960-69 grew by 35.5 percent. See Krencik, “Cele i srodki,” p. 208, and Rocznik Statystyczny, 1970 (Warsaw, 1970), p. 64.

4. Krencik appears to combine here two considerations. First, the proportion of executive positions has increased with progressing economic development, and since executives spend more of their time on overtime work than workers do, the proportion of overtime to regular hours must have increased. Second, actual overtime per worker, not necessarily recorded in official statistics, might have increased during the period.

5. See A. Luszniewicz’s articles, “Przyblizona miara stopy życiowej ludności Polski” [An Approximate Measure of the Standard of Living of the Population in Poland], Wiadomo ści Statystyczne, 1970, no. 8, p. 10, and “Teoria i praktyka mierników poziomu życia ludności” [The Theory and Practice of the Measures of the Standard of Living of the Population], Gospodarka Planowa, 1971, no. 5, p. 262. Luszniewicz used a formula from Drewnowski, J., The Level of Living Index (Geneva : United Nations, 1966 Google Scholar. His food indicator was based on nutritive components : a1 = calories consumed; a2 = consumption of proteins; a3 = share of calories consumed not derived from starches. A decline in that index (100 = maximum satisfaction) at low standard of living, and in view of Engel’s law, in my opinion constitutes a valid indicator of decrease in the standard of living. The “Giffen paradox” could not have operated in Poland during the 1960s, and it would not have shown in the index arrived at by Luszniewicz, since the nutritive components chosen by him reflect “quality food.”

6. This is indicated by an income elasticity of demand for food of 0.77, and by the fact that almost 50 percent of consumer expenditures are spent on foodstuffs. See my “Recent Discussion on Consumption Planning in Poland,” cited above, and the background calculations for my article “The Polish Index of Consumption, 1938-1964,” Bentley Business and Economic Review, June 1969.

7. Rychlewski, E., “Długookresowy popyt mieszkaniowy” [Long-Term Demand for Housing], Ekonomista, 1970, no. 6, p. 1172 Google Scholar (Ekonomista is the journal of the Polish Economic Society).

8. Chłtstowski, S., “Wybór celów” [Selection of Goals], Życie Gospodarcze, 1971, no. 45, p. 2.Google Scholar

9. Kró;l, H. and Drozdek, Z., “Problemy społeczne w planowaniu gospodarczym” [Social Problems in Economic Planning], Nowe Drogi, 1971, no. 9, p. 36.Google Scholar

10. “Uchwała Krajowego Zjazdu Ekonomistów” [Resolution of the National Congress of Economists], Ekonomista, 1971, no. 3, p. 354.