Jan S. Kowalski

Innovative Behaviour, R&D Development Activities and Technology Policies in Countries in Transition: The Case of Central Europe

In the early 80s Professor Zbigniew Brzezinski, former President Jimmy Carter’s National Security adviser prophesized that the decade would either result in a war between the superpowers, or lead to the demise of the communist system and of the Soviet dominance in Eastern Europe. His main argument was that the Soviet socio-economic system was unable to meet the challenge of the new wave of innovations in communications and computers, based on research and development in microelectronics and related fields. This wave of innovations had already started to reshape the way business was done and the way society and its communication channels were controlled. It rewrote the military-defence framework and accelerated the pace of change in societal arrangements. It also made the information-control mechanisms used by the totalitarian communist regimes increasingly inefficient and irrelevant, so that they would become untenable. Brzezinski’s fear of a major confrontation between the superpowers stemmed from his belief that the Soviet generals had been aware of the innovation weaknesses and deficits inherent in their system, and could have been tempted to launch a surprise preemptive strike, before the free-market technological superiority established itself.

Rational Expectations in Centrally Planned Economies

The rational expectations approach (RE) has been the major development (alongside the theory of market disequilibrium) in Western economic theory in the 1970s and early 1980s. It continues to stimulate research in almost every branch of economics.

Demand‐performance‐supply equilibria in centrally planned economies: A three‐level approach

We Adapt and Develop for the Analysis of Centrally Planned Economies a Conceptual Framework Originally Designed for the Analysis of Transportation Systems. This Framework Adds an Explicit Performance Level Between the Demand and Supply Levels of Analysis. This Three-Level Approach, Formulated Very Generally Here to Distinguish It From Particular Formulations and Allow Them As Nested Special Cases, Makes Possible the Definition of Multiple Equlibria Defined on Quantities, Prices and Service Levels. the Specifics of How Queues (And Black and Shadow Markets) Can Yield an Extended Equilibrium Are Outlined and the Implications of the Three-Level Approach for Econometric Model Estimation Alluded To. We Contrast Our Approach Mainly to That of Kornai.

On the Efficiency of Regional Production in Poland, 1976-1982

The aim of this study is the analysis of the factors influencing regional production levels in Poland and of the impacts of the investment expenditure flows on the countrys overall economic efficiency. Cross-regional estimates of production functions based on the concept of (spatially immobile) input potentials as well as the analysis of regional bottlenecks hampering production are conducted. Comparisons between the derived regional performance scores and the flows of investments are performed. The results show that not the regions which use production factors more efficiently, but those which dispose of stronger political influences receive most of the investment means; thus, economic and social polarization in space is increased.

The New Europe: Political, Social and Economic Changes in Eastern European Countries and Their Impacts on the Spatial Division of Labour

The first two years of transformation in Central and Eastern Europe have shown that the process of change is much more complicated and painful than was originally expected. The initial euphoria following the non-violent take-over of power from the communist governments by the opposition democratic movements has been replaced by the sober awareness that political, mental and economic obstacles to the transformation from centrally planned to market oriented economies are indeed formidable. The political consensus that cemented these opposition movements in the time of their resistance against totalitarian governments, gave way to a splintering up of them, and to bitter quarrels between the various groups of former dissidents. Political stability in all reforming countries, and even in some cases their territorial integrity, are endangered. The impetus of economic transformation has slowed down, due to the unavoidable social costs connected with this process which have come to the fore, and which pose not only huge problems with regard to the interregional and interpersonal assessment of these costs, but in some cases have virtually brought to a halt the implementation of the transformation projects themselves.

The Social Market Economy — Present and Future

With his contribution on “Das Magische Neuneck — Umwelt und Sicherheit in einer Volkswirtschaft” Wolfgang Eichhorn takes a stand in the systems-economic discussion on an adequate adaption of the social market economy to socioeconomic developments. Whereas Eichhorn focuses on the design problems of a free enterprise system in developed industrial societies by indicating the necessity of considering and formulating new economic policy objectives, the authors of a memorandum of the Protestant church in Germany titled “Gemeinwohl und Eigennutz — Wirtschaftliches Handeln in Verantwortung fur die Zukunft” address the issue from a world political point of view and by applying Christian-ethical standards, dealing with fundamental as well as topical questions of present and future adequacy of the concept of the social market economy. In the present contribution we concentrate on problems of relevance for the ecologic system, for demography, and distribution policies, as selected from the broad contents of the memorandum. These problems are discussed with special recognition of their consequences with regard to a restructuring of the concept and implementation procedures of the social market economy, in order to preserve its problem solving capacity and, therefore, its survival. Thus, at the same time, some substantial aspects of Eichhorn’s expositions are rather thoroughly reflected.

Information Technology, the Urban System and Urban Policy Consequences

As with many other mature economies in recent years, the economy of the Federal Republic of Germany has — among other factors like the population decline — experienced serious structural changes connected with the rapid development and spread of new technologies leading to the creation of new economic activities, reshaping the character of the old ones and influencing the structure of the labour force. In this chapter, various aspects of the relationships between new technologies on the one hand, and the regional structure and the development of the urban system in West Germany on the other are analysed. Among the influences of the cluster of new technologies (Lakshmanan and Chatterjee 1986, p.15) which cause these cumulative effects, information technologies play an important role. A continuing structural change in the sectoral composition of the economy, leading to a growing dominance of the service sector and to changes within this sector itself (see Table 1), indicates the extent of these influences.

New Technology, Innovative Activities, and the German City System

In recent years the economy of the Federal Republic of Germany has experienced serious structural changes which have resulted, on the one hand, in stagnation and decay of various traditional activities in manufacturing and mining and on the other hand in the rapid development and spread of new, information-based sectors. As a consequence, old industrial centers have lost their status as spatial nuclei of economic activity, and new, information, technology, and service-oriented centers have emerged.