Ubezpieczenia ustawowe w PRL jako instytucja ubezpieczeń w gospodarce centralnie planowanej

The article concerns the issue of compulsory insurance known in the period of the Polish People’s Republic, which was created by the law itself — the so-called statutory insurance. The basic methods used are the legal-dogmatic method and the descriptive method, the study of legal literature, and the analysis of legal acts and jurisprudence, mostly of a historical nature. Statutory insurance functioned from the 1950s until the end of the 1980s in a centrally planned economy, being specific to the so-called socialist insurance. The insurance relationship concluded by the operation of law could exist in a monopoly situation — in the different categories of insurance there was only one state insurer. In the literature and jurisprudence of the time, the statutory insurance relationship was usually classified as a civil law relationship. Such an assessment, however, raises doubts due to the number of public-law elements occurring in this type of insurance. Statutory insurance was an artificial insurance element, serving fiscal purposes.

Problem zamówień publicznych w PRL

The article characterises selected legal solutions applied in the process of public contract award in the realities of the nationalised centrally-planned economy in the times of the Polish People’s Republic. In the study, manifestations of discrimination of private businesses in the access to public contracts are presented. Such discrimination was one of the foundations for the legislation applicable at the time. The article also highlights other features of legal acts of statutory rank governing contracts awarded by state-owned organisational units, such as the fragmented nature of their regulations, including the omission of regulations governing the procedure of reaching an agreement and executing a contract. This allowed formulating conclusions about the merely superficial role of the provisions on supplies, services, and works for state entities and the fundamental inability of these regulations to play the role attributed to public procurement in the market economy, consisting in deploying the mechanism of competition between entrepreneurs for cost-efficiencies in public spending.

Analysis of provided financial support to the least developed districts with regard on situation on labour market

Regional differences are one of the most visible problems of the Slovak economy. Although they emerged in the time of the centrally planned economy before 1989, the successful transformation into a market-oriented economy could not eliminate them. The differences between the regions in the west and east of Slovakia are visible in all measurable indicators. The registered unemployment rate is one of the indicators that is most often used to express disparities between the western and eastern regions of the country. Also with regard to its reduction, a law was created on the support of the least developed districts. Based on it, a given group of districts is allowed to draw funds on terms that are more favourable. The following article analyses the impact of the provided financial funds on the labour market in the least developed districts.

From Business to Central Planning: Cooperatives in Czechoslovakia in 1918-1938 and 1948-1960

The paper focuses on cooperatives — seen as business enterprises — in the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938) and the period of 12 years after the communist putsch (1948-1960). It compares the functions of cooperatives, the limits placed on their (semi-)independent business activities, and their chances to decide for themselves in the market economy and the centrally planned economy. Drawing on the methods of business history and economic history, the study seeks to answer the following questions: 1. Were the cooperatives in the First Czechoslovak Republic really fully independent companies running their business on a free market? 2. Were the cooperatives in the Stalinist and early post-Stalinist Czechoslovakia really subordinated subjects in a centrally planned economy? 3. Are there any real connections in the functioning of cooperatives in these two eras? In other words, is it possible that something of the independent cooperatives survived and that the traditional interpretations (according to which the two eras were completely different and even contradictory) can be seen in new and more accurate ways?

„Visi nori to savo versliuko“: posovietinė deindustrializacija, darbas ir pragyvenimo būdai Marijampolėje

‘Everyone Wants their Own Business’: Post-Soviet Deindustrialisation, Work and Means of Liv elihood in Marijampolė This paper asks how people made their livings in the former Soviet industrial city of Marijampolė during the crisis that was caused by the deindustrialization associated with the transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. It analyses aspects that helped to develop and include people in means of livelihood; the ways in which work activities produce new workplaces and have an impact on the transformation of places in Marijampolė; and transformations of the concept of work. It shows that means of livelihood that are used during a work crisis tend to expand, involve others, and form structures. Key words: work, means of livelihood, business, post-Soviet deindustrialization, Marijampolė.

Backwardness of Central and Eastern Europe as a Heritage of the Soviet Period

The economy of Latvia lags behind economically developed nations approximately fourfold in terms of labour productivity in the tradable sector, which is the key constituent of a modern economy, thereby affecting future sustainable development in the entire country, including the rural areas. The economic backwardness is characteristic of the entire Central and Eastern Europe. This is the heritage of a communist regime that lasted for about half a century and the economic system termed a (centrally) planned economy or a command economy. However, such a term for the communist-period economy is not correct, as it does not represent the purpose it was created for. Accordingly, the paper aims to assess the effect of the communism period on the economic backwardness of the Central and Eastern European region of the EU. A planned economy that existed in all communist countries, with the exception of Yugoslavia, was not introduced to contribute to prosperity. It was intended for confrontation or even warfare by the communist countries under the guidance of the USSR against other countries where no communism regime existed, mostly Western world nations with their market economies. For this reason, it is not correct to term it a (centrally) planned economy or a command economy; the right term is a mobilised (war) economy. An extrapolation of a geometric progression for GDP revealed that during the half a century, Latvia as part of the USSR was forced to spend on confrontation with the West not less than EUR 17 bln. (2011 prices) or approximately one gross domestic product of 2011. The research aim of the paper is to assess the effect of the communism period on the economic backwardness of the Central and Eastern European region of the EU.

Ochrona praw konsumenta w Polskiej Rzeczypospolitej Ludowej w latach 1952‑1989

The Protection of Consumer Rights in the Polish People’s Republic in 1952‑1989 The article, based on the analysis of legal acts and literature on the subject, aims to present the protection of consumer rights in a communist state on the example of the Polish People’s Republic. Selected legal regulations in force in 1952‑1989, whose subjects were consumers, were discussed. The article indicates the dangers faced by consumers shopping in the then Polish state. Attention was also paid to the rights of consumers (including warranty) as well as the real threats to their rights resulting from the properties of the centrally planned economy. The last part of the article fulfills the role of conclusion. It contains considerations on the actual safety of consumers who, in the absence of availability of consumer goods, purchased products and services at inflated prices and of reduced quality.

Implementing a competition law system—Three Decades of Polish Experience

This article critically analyses the introduction and development of a system of competition law in Poland prior to 2016, a period when the country underwent two fundamental transitions: from a centrally planned economy to free markets and from communism to democracy. In particular, the study focuses on the competition agency’s setup, advocacy and enforcement efforts. It also examines the position and input of the judiciary, practitioners and the broader epistemic community. The study uniquely benefits from in-depth interviews with individuals who shaped the Polish system over nearly 30 years of its existence (inclusive of all former heads of the agency, judges, leading practitioners, and agency advisors) and from analysis of newly gathered data and statistics. It also draws on broader scholarship on new competition regimes. The findings are aimed to inform refinements in Poland and other countries establishing or developing competition law systems. This study will be particularly salient in countries that are undergoing or have undergone similar economic and/or political transitions.