Economic Management and Mismanagement. IREX Occasional Papers, Volume 1, Number 2.

The paper discusses major lines of research of American economists on the economies of the USSR and Eastern Europe. A specific concern is that the United States faces a complex set of issues resulting from the expanding role of these countries in the world economy. At the same time, the United States is experiencing a declining base of specialists in Soviet and East European economics. Presently, much of the work on the Soviet economy concerns three themes: how the system is organized and how it operates; efficiency evaluation in terms of goals or of hypothetical performance; and how the system performs relative to other Eastern and Western countries. One of the most successful projects is SOVMOD, a computer-based series of models of the Soviet economy. Academic exchanges, however, have played a relatively minor role in research development. The benefits of travel for the American economist are small. Documents are generally classified and Soviet economists are not encouraged to work with their American counterparts. Thus, the predominant form of exchange may become short stays by individuals or delegations and conferences. East European exchanges have been more promising, particularly in Hungary, Poland, and Yugoslavia. East European economists are more informed about Western approaches, and data are better and more plentiful. The document concludes with a brief comment by a conference participant who differs with the author on the benefits of research in the Soviet Union. (Author/KC)