The Market-Planned Economy of Yugoslavia

Author:

Svetozar Pejovich

“In view of the wide experimentation going on in the Eastern European countries and in the Soviet Union, this story of the development of the Yugoslav economic system is particularly interesting, for it covers an eighteen-year period in which, by trial and error, an apparently viable and effective system has been hammered out.”

Francis M. Boddy, associate dean of the Graduate School and professor of economics, University of Minnesota.

The Yugoslavian economic system, combining, as it does, elements of Marxist socialism with many aspects of free enterprise, represents a challenging experiment which is being closely watched by students of economic and political theory. The system has attracted serious attention in the emerging nations of Asia and Africa and, more recently, in the Soviet Union itself. Though they retain socialist, state-centered goals, the Yugoslavs have introduced a great deal of decentralization and individual incentive and have allowed production to be largely regulated by the demand of a relatively free market instead of by predetermined quotas and plans.

Professor Pejovich describes and analyzes this economic system, as it affects both the overall economy and the individual firm. He then provides a theoretical analysis in which he points out implications for economic theory and for the theory of socialism as well as the practical significance of the Yugoslavian experiment. The stud makes an important contribution in combining the economic theory of socialism formulated in the pioneering work of Oskar Lange with the theory of economic development if Joseph Schumpeter, whose concepts are discussed by Dr. Pejovich in an appendix.

Svetozar Pejovich, a native of Yugoslavia, is Professor Emeritus of Economics at Texas A & M University. He formerly taught at St. Mary’s College, Winona, Minnesota.

“In view of the wide experimentation going on in the Eastern European countries and in the Soviet Union, this story of the development of the Yugoslav economic system is particularly interesting, for it covers an eighteen-year period in which, by trial and error, an apparently viable and effective system has been hammered out.”

Francis M. Boddy, associate dean of the Graduate School and professor of economics, University of Minnesota.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I THE LEGAL STRUCTURE OF THE YUGOSLAV ECONOMY
II ECONOMIC PLANNING IN YUGOSLAVIA
III THE PERFORMANCE OF THE YUGOSLAV ECONOMY
IV THE FIRM IN YUGOSLAVIA
V ANALYTICAL EXPLANATION OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE YUGOSLAV ECONOMY
VI SUMMARY

Appendixes

I Karl Marx and the Problem of Transition from Capitalism to Socialism
II Scientific Socialism of Karl Marx vs. Socialism in Yugoslavia
III Some Important Features of the Theory of Economic Development of Joseph Schumpeter
IV Foreign Trade, Tangible Foreign Aid, and Loans from the International Bank
V Workers' Management of a Firm in Yugoslavia
VI Public Announcements

NOTES

INDEX