Soviet Labour And The Ethic Of Communism by David Lane

Author:David Lane [Lane, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781000312539
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2019-07-11T00:00:00+00:00

Conclusions: Productivity in a Low Pay/FullEmployment Economy

The maturation of the Soviet economy in the 1980s has brought in its train not only new economic problems but also a different pattern of needs on the part of the population. It is impossible to increase growth extensively by adding to the labour force because the supply of labour cannot be significantly increased. The economy now requires intensive growth entailing an increase in labour productivity. Labour productivity and motivation to work are systemic properties of a social system which limit the opportunities of the political leadership to raise productivity through its own actions. The Gorbachev administration, however, has inherited an economic system which provides opportunities for labour productivity to rise. From a social point of view, it will benefit from a population which is much better educated and able to adjust to changes in technology. One current cause of low labour productivity is overmanning and there is currently a surplus of employed labour to meet administrative inefficiencies. In the short run, labour productivity can be improved by reducing the age of retirement of capital. This will lead to shorter periods of machinery downtime and to a reduction in the number of auxiliary workers. Relatively small improvements in administration also can lead to rises in productivity: these are to do with delivery of materials and using the workforce more effectively. Such changes can be achieved without any significant reform of the existing 'economic mechanism'. The impact of the campaign to increase 'labour discipline' is limited to short-term improvements in labour productivity. Increased motivation to work in the long run is largely conceived of in material terms—of more appropriate payment 'according to one's work'.

Material 'stimulation' of labour to achieve greater efficiency has many implications for social policy. First, wage payments linked to 'material incentives' may give rise to socially and politically unacceptable differentials between groups of workers, thereby undermining the principles of distribution thought appropriate for the development of 'mature socialism'. While reward according to the principle of desert has been a component of policy since the time of Stalin, those of need and equality of consideration are also motivating principles of socialism. Secondly, the utilization of wages as a stimulus will only be effective if payment can be realized through consumption. This is not just a problem of adjusting the economic mechanism but involves the development of new and different products with an appeal to the higher income groups. A consumer society fulfils a particular pattern of needs: it encourages production to respond to the pattern of demand given by the distribution of income. The consumption needs of the richer groups might be met at the cost of those of the poorer ones. Such a policy is at variance with the political goals and ideological outlook of the Soviet political leadership (or at least with elements of it). A consumer society also entails the reconciliation of demand and supply through the use of money, rather than administrative allocation. Thirdly, improving material incentives involves not only rewarding those who work efficiently, but penalizing workers who default.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.