The Economics of Forced Labor: The Soviet Gulag (Hoover Institution Press Publication)

The Gulag system was conceived from the first as both a penal system and as a source of labor for grand and ill-conceived economic projects, according to Gregory and Lazarev (both of the Hoover Institution). They offer an overview of the Gulag system and present chapters exploring its economic aspects, especially the rationales of Soviet planners and the inefficiency of forced labor.

The authors provide both broad overviews and specific case studies as they examine

• The various forms of coercion and the channels through which coerced labor was distributed under Stalinism's heyday, from the late 1930s to the early 1950s
• Why the Gulag emerged and its perceived economic rationale
• The chronology of the Gulag from the first major projects—such as the White Sea–Baltic Canal—to the unfinished plans of the 1950s
• The day-to-day costs of maintaining the Gulag and the great hidden cost of coercion—the loss of productivity
• How the Soviet leadership desperately sought to find the right balance between extreme coercion and extreme material incentives for the labor force—and how material incentives played an increasingly greater role in later years
• How Stalin's death provided the excuse for radical reform and the end of the Gulag

Seen together, these contributions present an extraordinary portrait of a major aspect of the Soviet approach to economic achievement whose results should provide an invaluable lesson to future generations.

"The authors examine the various forms of coercion and the channels through which coerced labor was distributed from the late 1930s to Stalin's death in 1953 and reveal why the Gulag emerged and its perceived economic rationale. They detail the chronology of the Gulag from the first major projects - such as the White Sea - Baltic Canal and the Norilsk metallurgy complex - to later, unfinished plans. The book reveals how Soviet leadership desperately sought to find the right balance between coercion and material incentives for the labor force - and how material incentives played an increasingly greater role in later years hooverpress3942-3......Page 1 0817939423_vii......Page 2 0817939423_xiii......Page 7 0817939423_xv......Page 8 0817939423_1......Page 11 0817939423_23......Page 32 0817939423_43......Page 52 0817939423_67......Page 76 0817939423_75......Page 83 0817939423_105......Page 113 0817939423_127......Page 134 0817939423_151......Page 158 0817939423_163......Page 170 0817939423_189......Page 195 0817939423_199......Page 204 0817939423_203......Page 207 Until now, there has been little scholarly analysis of the Soviet Gulag as an economic, social, and political institution, primarily owing to a lack of data. This collection presents the results of years of research by Western and Russian scholars. The authors provide both broad overviews and specific case studies.