The CPE Aversion to Innovations: Alternative Theoretical Explanations.

It has been established in the literature that the behavior of technological agents in the centrally planned economies (CPEs) and market economies differs substantially in terms of effectiveness. In this article we would like to explore what makes the CPEs less effective. To do so we shall determine the most essential feature of the planning mechanism that leads to inferior technological behavior instead of assessing all the specific instruments used by planners. Three major theoretical perspectives of the planning mechanism will be outlined here and analyzed from the point of view of their adequacy in explaining innovative behavior of the CPEs. Copyright 1988 by Kluwer Academic Publishers