The theory of international economic order is concerned with two basically different types of human relationships: those that belong to the private sphere of the individual and which are amenable to the rule of law (the "dominium") and those that are backed by sovereign national power (the "imperium"). It is very important to know which fields of human activity are subject, within a given state, to imperium and which are left to the regulating influence of market values and private law.

First published in 1990, A Guide to the Socialist Economies explores the evolution of a variety of economic systems in the socialist world and highlights major problems facing fourteen countries – Albania, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Hungary, North Korea, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, the Soviet Union, Vietnam and Yugoslavia –against a background of continuous change, characterized by such events as the Berlin blockade, the Korean war, the Hungarian revolution and the invasion of Czechoslovakia. The traditional Soviet economic model is studied in detail as the basic system adopted by or imposed upon all of these countries. A separate chapter is devoted to foreign trade in general and Comecon in particular, while each of the country studies deals with the political and economic background, economic reforms (including industry, agriculture, the financial system and foreign trade and capital) and the private sector. The book provides information on the economic institutions of all the individual countries which is invaluable if the various courses of reform each country has engaged upon are to be understood. Historical material supplements contemporary information in a work which is to be an essential reference for anyone engaged in a study of, or trade with, the socialist countries.

What are the sources of the well-known differences in the performance of capitalist and socialist economic systems? Peter Murrell argues that the Schumpeterian model has far more power to answer this question than does the neoclassical theory generally used for that purpose. The neoclassical theory focuses on the absence of a price system and the inability of a centralized system to allocate resources efficiently, while the Schumpeterian model emphasizes the rigidity of institutions and policies in socialist economies and their lack of mechanisms either to create new institutions or to identify and to foster the growth of the most efficient organizations (including multinational corporations). In a work that will have profound consequences for the analysis of economic reform in socialist economies, Murrell compares the predictions of these two models against data summarizing foreign trade performance and finds the Schumpeterian model clearly superior. Combining international trade theory and econometric techniques, the author develops new methods of comparative economic analysis. These methods provide new information on the values of eleven resource endowments implicit in trade, the degree to which the socialist countries fit standard models of trade, the effect of multinational corporations on trade, and myriad other features of economic performance. Originally published in 1990. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This groundbreaking volume combines theories of economic liberalization with a wide variety of case studies from market and socialist economies. Internationally regarded scholars and Eastern European policymakers have collaborated to evaluate the dramatic economic changes taking place throughout the world. The opening essays contribute to the theoretical debate by showing that foreign economic liberalization goes beyond reducing import barriers to policies on investment, financial liberalization, convertability, and export promotion. Case studies compare successful and unsuccessful liberalization attempts world wide. The disintegration of the CMEA and the policy dilemmas facing Central and Eastern Europe are examined in great detail, as the authors explore the pitfalls and opportunities inherent in the transformation from a centrally planned economy. This up-to-date text will be invaluable for courses on the history and transformation of socialist economies, comparative economic systems, and international trade and investment.

This book, first published in 1991, is a revised and updated version of Professor Marie Lavigne's best seller Economie Internationale des Pays Socialistes.