Restructuring the Soviet economic bureaucracy /

Gregory (University of Houston) reports and interprets findings of interviews with former members of the Soviet economic bureaucracy who emigrated to the US between 1979 and 1984. They include former senior executives in enterprises; senior government specialists responsible for planning, supply, and finance; and senior officials in ministries supervising specific branches of the economy. Gregory examines the organization and behavior of the economic bureaucracy; the allocation of materials and funds and of construction activities; the role of the Communist party in these processes; and efforts at reform of the economic system. Footnote references but no bibliography. Unfortunately, Russian-language titles of books and periodical articles are not translated for the benefit of nonspecialist readers. This book differs in subject matter and methodology from for example, Ed A. Hewett, Reforming the Soviet Economy (CH, Jul'88), an examination of economic problems and the need for reforms, and Reorganization and Reform in the Soviet Economy, ed. by Susan J. Linz and William Moskoff (CH, Dec'88), a collection of seven papers on different topics. Gregory's work is suitable for undergraduate collections covering the Soviet economy. -M. Bornstein, University of Michigan