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The political economy of a Soviet military R&D failure : steam power for aviation, 1932 to 1939
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Harrison, Mark (2002) The political economy of a Soviet military R&D failure : steam power for aviation, 1932 to 1939. Journal of Economic History, Vol.63 (No.1). pp. 178-212. doi:10.1017/S0022050703001773 ISSN 0022-0507.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0022050703001773
Abstract
By studying a Soviet R&D failure, the prewar attempt to create a new aeroengine
technology based on the steam turbine, we find out more about the motivations,
strategies, and payoffs of principals and agents in the Soviet command economy.
Alternative approaches to the evaluation of R&D failure are outlined. New archival
documentation shows the scale and scope of the Soviet R&D effort in this field. The
allocation of R&D resources resulted from agents’ horizontal interactions within a
vertical command hierarchy. Project funding was determined in a context of biased
information, adverse selection, and agents’ rent seeking. Funding was rationed across
projects and through time. Budget constraints on individual projects were softened in
the presence of sunk costs, but were hardened periodically. There is no evidence that
rents were intentionally distributed through the Soviet military R&D system to win
trust or reward loyalty; the termination of aviation steam power R&D in 1939 despite
the sunk costs they represented was timely.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
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Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics | ||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Research, Industrial -- Soviet Union, Soviet Union -- Economic policy | ||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Economic History | ||||
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press | ||||
ISSN: | 0022-0507 | ||||
Official Date: | 19 July 2002 | ||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | Vol.63 | ||||
Number: | No.1 | ||||
Page Range: | pp. 178-212 | ||||
DOI: | 10.1017/S0022050703001773 | ||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) |
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