Resistance to Change in the Soviet Economic System : A Property Rights Approach.

The failure of the economic system based on the Soviet model is widely recognized, so widely in fact that many in the West cannot understand why far-reaching programmes of reforms repeatedly fail. This book uses a property-rights approach to analyze why there is such widespread and successful resistance to change. A significant group of the ruling stratum benefit considerably from their positions, particularly in terms of access to goods and services. Normally it is this very group which is entrusted with the design and, especially, the implementation of changes. Uniquely positioned to abort, distort or ultimately reverse the measures that threaten their privileges, they provide the major obstacle to reform in Soviet-type economies. Jan Winiecki argues that the most effective way of removing this obstacle would be a system of compensatory payments.