Contenu du sommaire

Privatization in Eastern Europe. Economie reform has several main dimensions : macroeconomic adjustment, marketization, restructuring, integration with the world economy, and privatization. All five dimensions have been involved, to some extent, in economic reforms in less developed countries. However, privatization is particularly important in the transformation in Eastern Europe (here, it refers primarily to Hungary, Poland, CSFR, Bulgaria and Romania) from a socialist centrally planned economy to a capitalist regulated market economy. Hence the author focuses on the role of privatization in East European economic reforms. Part I is a theoretical and empirical analysis of principal elements of privatization. Part II examines relationships between privatization and other four dimensions of economic reform. Part III summarizes main findings and makes some comparisons with privatization in other regions.

Self-management and privatization in Yugoslavia. Although in has had a goods and services market since the 1950's, the Yugoslav economic system was still, until the end of the 1980's, characterized by social ownership of the means of production. This system of ownership lies at the root of relative inefficiency in the use of resources, particularly capital (enterprises hampered in their scope for self-financing, a persistently soft budgetary constraint), hence the urgency of the calls for privatization. A privatization programme determines the participants from the start of the process, likewise procedures for the transfer of ownership (free or paying, in the latter case at what price), and what kind of shareholding is sought (foreign or national, widespread or concentrated). Those programmes drawn up in Yugoslavia, up until the summer of 1991, cover all possible variations, with the exception of free distribution of assets, account being taken of self-management and the paucity of national savings. In practice, they favour the employee shareholder. All of this gives rise to delays in the process of privatization and limits the positive effects expected of privatization. Consequently, the authorities are impelled to give priority once more to the restructuring of enterprises which remain social, and to modify the relationships, inherited from self-management, between enterprises and the banking sector.

The Rumanian economy in transition to a market economy : economic and institutional reforms. Since the fall of Ceausescu in 1989, Rumania has been engaged in a process of radical economic and political reform. The Rumanian economy's passage to a market economy should be seen in a context which, although not specific to Rumania, nevertheless enables one to single out for consideration certain characteristics of this particular East European country. The purpose of this article is to examine the economic and political implications of this transition, along with the associated macro-economic and institutional aspects of the reform.

Radical economic reform in Russia : an assessment of the first stage. Since 1985, there has been a succession of economic reforms in Russia, from straightforward repair of the traditional system to programmes of a distinctly more ambitious nature. As a result of indecisiveness on the part of the authorities, and the drive for independence on the part of the federated republics, hope for a comprehensive economic reform in the USSR have evaporated. In all, these various attempts brought about a noticeable deterioration in the situation, and it was only after the coup was averted, in August 1991, that it became possible to introduce real changes. The most radical reform was initiated in Russia. Currency stabilization was the first aim of the programme adopted by the Russian government in December 1991. After describing the three aspects of the programme (liberalization of prices, balancing the budget, and a restrictive financial policy), the author criticizes its implementation, and takes a somewhat pessimistic view. He has similar reservations about the reorganization of the country's economic structures which, as far as the Russian authorities were concerned, was confined to privatization, increasing the efficiency of State enterprises, and the setting up of new private firms. The author, in his conclusion, speculates about the contradictions and perspectives of the reform, and considers that the chances for the development of a western-style economy in Russia are highly uncertain.

The Treuhandanstalt in the privatization of East- German agriculture. The responsibility of the Treuhandanstalt (THA) in the privatization of agriculture in the five new German Lander is here put up in its patrimony and its organization chart. The approach of its priorities is complex as it gives way back to a contested policy which transparency and consequences led to serious criticism (I). The branch of the THA called BWG (Society for the management and the administration of the soil), set to work in June 1992, takes a part of the THA's functions for a longer term (about 15 years). The assignment of sales or leases is a fundamental item in the present policy of the authority in each Land and in the German Federation (II). Furthermore, the agricultural unions and all the local performers act to defend their own interests, which are often contradictory, as to the management of rural area (III).

State farms of Lower Silesia, on the threshold of privatization. This article is concerned with the problems arising from the restructuring and privatization of State farms, which in Poland account for 3 459 000 hectares of arable land, or 17,4 % of the total. Following on the process of transforming the Polish economy to a market economy, which was started in mid- 1989, the state farms are now in a critical position. They employ some 400 000 or so workers, who with their families represent a total of 2 million people. Given its social cost, the rationalization of employment in state farms is difficult to implement, although it would bring about increased efficiency in production, and would simplify the restructuring of farming units. It is calculated that employment should be reduced by 40 %. In March 1992, an Agency for rural ownership was set up under the State Treasury, with the specific purpose of rationalizing employment in the state farms, and getting the process of privatization under way. It is thought that the Agency should be able to clear bottlenecks, and get on with the transfer of property, with the legal means now available to it. It will be in a position not only to guarantee investment credits, but also to participate on its own account in the development of the food and agricultural industry and infrastrusture.

Liberalization, structural changes and the fall in output in transition economies. Following the interpretation of the fall in output in transition economies provided by other scholars, we propose a new explanation based on a simple (graphical) general equilibrium model, which distinguishes the Marxian sector I (producing equipment, intermediates, raw materials and defense related output), from sector II (namely light industry, agriculture and services), which produces mainly consumer goods. We also relate the dynamics of output to critical policy issues (social welfare, « shock therapy » versus gradualism, East- West trade, labour markets).