Small-Scale Privatisation in Eastern Europe and Russia: A Historical and Comparative Perspective

Gacs, J., Karimov, I., & Schneider, C.M. (1993). Small-Scale Privatisation in Eastern Europe and Russia: A Historical and Comparative Perspective. IIASA Research Report (Reprint). IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: RR-93-014. Reprinted from Communist Economies and Economic Transformation, 5(1):61-86 [1993].

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Abstract

Small-scale privatisation (SSP) of shops, restaurants, and other consumer services was the first stage of the complex process of privatisation in Eastern Europe and the Russian Federation. It was a giant social and economic experiment to assess the demand for previously state-owned property and people's attitudes towards private ownership. It was also an in-depth examination verifying different techniques of privatisation. Recent experiences of SSP in Eastern European countries and the Russian Federation, although broadly publicised by the mass media, were barely analysed in a comparative perspective. Since the majority of the former communist economies are already undertaking full-scale privatisation, or at least elaborating the programs for it, the time has come for the analysis of experiences already accumulated during the first stage.

This paper is one of the first serious attempts to focus on SSP from a comparative point of view. The authors have meticulously documented recent developments in SSP in the former Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, former Eastern Germany, Hungary, Poland, and the Russian Federation. This report examines the characteristics of each stage of the privatisation processes and compares them across the nations, beginning with the emergence of the idea of SSP, through legislation, and the rise of unexpected tensions during the implementation phase. The characteristic features of the newly privatised retail and service businesses are also reviewed.

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