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Quantity versus quality in the Soviet market for weapons
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Harrison, Mark and Markevich, Andreĭ (2007) Quantity versus quality in the Soviet market for weapons. Working Paper. Coventry: University of Warwick, Department of Economics. Warwick economic research papers (No.822).
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Official URL: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/resear...
Abstract
Military market places display obvious inefficiencies under most arrangements, but the Soviet defense market was unusual for its degree of monopoly, exclusive relationships, intensely scrutinized (in its formative years) by a harsh dictator. This provided the setting for quality versus quantity in the delivery of weapons to the government. The paper discusses the power of the industrial contractor over the defense buyer in terms of a hold-up problem. The typical use that the contractor made of this power was to default on quality. The defense ministry’s counter-action took the form of deploying agents through industry with the authority to verify quality and reject substandard goods. The final compromise restored quality at the expense of quantity. Being illicit, it had to be hidden from the dictator.
| Item Type: | Working or Discussion Paper (Working Paper) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions D History General and Old World > DK Russia. Soviet Union. Former Soviet Republics U Military Science > U Military Science (General) |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics | ||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Military weapons -- Soviet Union, Weapons industry -- Soviet Union, Defense industries -- Soviet Union, Commercial law -- Soviet Union, Soviet Union -- History, Military, Soviet Union -- Economic conditions | ||||
| Series Name: | Warwick economic research papers | ||||
| Publisher: | University of Warwick, Department of Economics | ||||
| Place of Publication: | Coventry | ||||
| Official Date: | 12 November 2007 | ||||
| Dates: |
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| Number: | No.822 | ||||
| Number of Pages: | 23 | ||||
| Status: | Not Peer Reviewed | ||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | ||||
| Funder: | Fifth Framework Programme (European Commission) (FP5), Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace |
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