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The Influence of the Soviet Economic System on Technological Performance

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Trade and Technology in Soviet-Western Relations

Part of the book series: Studies in Soviet History and Society ((SSHS))

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Abstract

The proposition that the Soviet economic system is the source of major constraints on Soviet technological performance is not the sort of proposition that lends itself to rigorous hypothesis-testing. Even comparisons of substantial numbers of different nations with differing economic systems are unhelpful so long as national ‘technological performance’ itself eludes reliable measurement. And other influences — cultural, historical and political (e.g., limited contacts with advanced capitalist countries), and those stemming from policies rather than system, — are also of a scarcely quantifiable kind. Moreover, the Soviet system is not without certain built-in advantages, compared with a capitalistic market economy, when it comes to innovation.

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© 1981 Philip Hanson

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Hanson, P. (1981). The Influence of the Soviet Economic System on Technological Performance. In: Trade and Technology in Soviet-Western Relations. Studies in Soviet History and Society. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-05163-2_4

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