Main trends of research in the social and human ... - unesdoc - Unesco

Economics 289
mies as socialism or market economy, central plan or market, and so on. Today
it is generally agreed that, in a sense, market and plan are complementary; as the
market operates on principles similar to those of a computer, both computer
and market can and should be made use of by the central planner.
c. Improved knowledge of the practical aspects of a socialist economy. This
occurred thanks to research and debate on problems underlying the basic de-
cisions regarding development objectives taken by the central authority, and a
growing interest in economic knowledge as the basis for the rational operation
of the lower economic units, including the enterprise. The structure and effec-
tiveness of investments, pricing and cost accounting principles, operational in-
dices of the enterprise, the interest rate, the impact of foreign trade, were among
other subjects considered. The hierarchical organizational structure of a socialist
economy and its correspondingly hierarchical structure of goals creates a de-
mand for economic knowledge of different scopes and at different levels of
generalization. Hence, the view that both macro- and micro-economic analyses
and theories - and all intermediary levels - are potentially useful is gaining sup-
port, and the former macro-micro dispute has lost its point. At lower levels of
analysis, it has become possible to use many research instruments devised in
Western academic economics.
d. Economic competition between different social systems focused the interest
of those theoretically or practicaIly concerned on a series of problems affecting
a theory of economic growth. One result is that the barriers hindering scientific
comparative analysis of competing socio-economic systems are becoming easier
to surmount. A similar comparative analysis of the experience of different
socialist countries is now also considered urgent.
These typical features of recent economic literature in socialist countries de-
rive from the actual needs of contemporary socialist economies, although they
also represent in part a reaction against the superficiality and dogmatism of the
previous literature. This reaction presumably accounts for the new practicalness,
the concentration on narrow contributions rather than wider ranging topics and
general socio-economic problems. The accent on research is praxiologico-eco-
nomic.
Marxist research on capitalist economics and on the mixed economy of the
developing countries is more synthetic and social in nature. But, even here, an
entirely new element has emerged: Marxists have recently been showing interest
in the more specific and pragmatic problems of capitalist economic functioning
and development. Economists from the socialist countries are anxious to take
advantage of the operational experience of the great private corporations, while
Marxists in the West are interested in research that might lay the foundations
for"structura1 reforms in line with the ultimate socialist objectives. Apart from
their general concern with alternative patterns of development, Marxist studies
on the subject of the developing countries concentrate mainly on the practical
problems of adapting planning techniques to the specific conditions of a mixed
economy.