The Hungarian Enterprise in the Context of Intra-Cmea Relations [antikvár]

EDITOR'S PREFACE Inquiring into the Intra-CMEA relations of the Hungarian enterprises was demanded by the changes of recent years both within Hungary and in the country's external environment, and motivated in addition by the intense efforts being made in the sphere of medium-term economic development forecasting. Beyond this many-sided motivation, it should be pointed out that the subject whose analysis we have undertaken is a novel one in at least two respects. (1) This survey and the present volume of essays reporting on it has been the first major joint research project of the Department of Economic Integrations, set up in 1982 at the Institute for World Economics. (2) Enterprise research is an essential expansion of the Institute's traditional sphere of research which used to be mainly of a national-economy and world economic scope: it was our survey that gave it its first micro-level (enterprise-level) complement and, to a certain extent, undershoring. The material presented here is the outcome of a survey of a representative sample of enterprises. Initiated in mid-1982, the survey covered a total of 20 manufacturing enterprises and nine foreign trade organisations (FTOs). It was our striving to get, as far as possible, all the exporters and importers making significant contributions to Hungary's intra-CMEA trade to lend a hand. Another viewpoint of sampling was to let the survey cover as many industries as possible and to let minor units of production and cooperatives also to have a say in addition to big industry. The comprehensive analyses (branch essays) on some fundamental branches of manufacturing and of foreign trade were based on written self-portraits provided and oral communications (interviews) given by the enterprises. Some further information, also provided in its bulk by the enterprises proper, was worked into a Summary Analysis. The present volume comprises both the Summary Analysis and the most important findings of the branch essays.