Georgi Petrov and the model of socialist market economy in Bulgaria

Nenovsky, Nikolay and Marinova, Tsvetelina (2025): Georgi Petrov and the model of socialist market economy in Bulgaria.

Abstract

We provide brief information about the context of the 1963 reform. This is followed by a presentation of the main themes and ideas in Georgi Petrov's life research project, which systematically and logically derives the need for decentralisation of the economy, a transition from directive planning to economic levers, granting full autonomy to enterprises included in market mechanisms and profit incentives.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Socialist market reform, socialist economy, socialist and marxist theory, socialist Bulgaria, Georgi Petrov
• Subjects: B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B2 - History of Economic Thought since 1925 > B24 - Socialist ; Marxist ; Sraffian; B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B3 - History of Economic Thought: Individuals > B31 - Individuals; B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B4 - Economic Methodology > B40 - General; N - Economic History > N1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics ; Industrial Structure ; Growth ; Fluctuations > N14 - Europe: 1913-; P - Economic Systems > P2 - Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies

References

Andreev, M. (1975). Private Roman Law, ed. Nauka i Izkustvo, Sofia

Aroyo, J. (1986). The Law of Value under Socialism, Partizdat, Sofia (in Bulgarian)

Aroyo, J. (1967). The New System of Management of the National Economy, a Modern Form of Economic Organisation of Production, Finance and Credit magazine, (10): 33-36 (in Bulgarian)

Aroyo, J. (1966). Public Labour, Value and Price, State Publishing House, Varna (in Bulgarian)

Aroyo, J. (1963). Methodological Problems of Price Formation under Socialism, Works of the Karl Marx Higher Institute of Economics (to be specified) (in Bulgarian)

Aroyo, J. (1962). The Law of Value and Price Formation in the People's Republic of Bulgaria, ed. Nauka i Izkustvo, Sofia (in Bulgarian)

Atlas, Z. (1959). The Law of Value and the Problem of Production Profitability under Socialism, in: Tsagolov, N., ed. (1959). The Law of Value and Its Role under Socialism, Gosplanizdat, Moscow, 269–287 (in Russian)

Bonev, S. (2011). The Time I Lived In, and the People I Worked With, ASI Print, Sofia Bonev, S. (1968). (in Bulgarian)

Bonev, S. (1968). Planning and Economic Levers, ed. Bulgarian Communist Party, Sofia (in Bulgarian)

Bonev, S. (1966). Raising the Scientific Level of Planning in the National Economy, Economic Thought magazine, (1): 3-21 (in Bulgarian)

Dalbokov, S. (1974). Increasing the role of the financial and credit system, in: Arroyo, J., ed. (1974), The Economic Policy of the Bulgarian Communist Party, Partizdat Publishing House, Sofia, 283-306

Kozodoyev, I. (1959). The Necessity of Commodity Production and the Law of Value in the Socialist Economy, in: Tsagolov, N., ed. (1959). The Law of Value and Its Role in Socialism, Gosplanizdat, Moscow, 15–31 (in Russian)

Kronrod, Ya. (1988). The Systematic Nature and Mechanism of Action of the Economic Laws of Socialism, Nauka Publishing House, Moscow (in Russian)

Kronrod, Ya. (1960). Cost and price in a socialist economy, in: Kronrod, Ya., ed. (1960). Problems of the political economy of socialism, Gospolitizdat, Moscow, 89–162 (in Russian)

Malyshev, I. (1966). Economic Laws of Socialism and Planning, ed. Ekonomika, Moscow (in Russian)

Malyshev, I. (1964). Economic Science and Economic Practice, ed. Ekonomika, Moscow (in Russian)

Malyshev, I. (1960). Public Accounting of Labour and Prices under Socialism, ed. Sotsegiz, Moscow (in Russian)

Manevich, V. (1975). Development of the Theory of Planned Pricing in Soviet Economic Literature, ed. Nauka, Moscow (in Russian)

Mateev, E. (1987). Structure and Management of the Economic System, ed. Nauka i Izkustvo, Sofia (in Bulgarian)

Mateev, E. (1967). Long-term planning and economic cybernetics, ed. Nauka i Izkustvo, Sofia (in Bulgarian)

Mateev, E. (1963). Perspective Planning, Inter-sectoral Links and Technical Coefficients, ed. Bulgarian Communist Party, Sofia (in Bulgarian)

Marcheva, I. (2012). On the History of Economic Reform in the Mid-1960s in Bulgaria, Historical Review, (1-2): 162-194 (in Bulgarian)

Nikolov, I. (1967). Towards a Characterisation of Socialist Property, Economic Thought, 12 (6): 58-69 (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (2016). The false reforms in Bulgaria, no place of publication, no publisher (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (2012). Human Nature and Society, (second edition), ed. Bulgarresurs, Sofia (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1990). The Collapse of the Totalitarian Economy. Deformations of Public Property, ed. Nauka i Izkustvo, Sofia (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1990a). Economic Accounting in State-Owned Industrial Enterprises until 1964, and Economic Accounting in State-Owned Enterprises after 1964, in: Berov, L., D. Dimitrov, eds. (1990): Development of Industry in Bulgaria (1834, 1947, 1989), ed. Nauka i Izkustvo, Sofia, pages 307-318 and 445-466 (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1987). Planning and Market Relations; Distribution of Income of Economic Organisations, in: Andonov, B., ed. (1987). Commodity-Money Relations and Economic Management under Socialism, ed. Nauka i Izkustvo, Sofia, pp. 49-82 and 130-162. (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1986). Distribution of income in socialist enterprises, ed. Nauka i Izkustvo, Sofia (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1981). Regulation of labour remuneration according to the final result, ed. Profizdat, Sofia (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1978). Financing expanded reproduction and technical progress, ed. Nauka i Izkustvo, Sofia (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1976). Taxes in the System of Planned Management of Socialist Enterprises, ed. Georgi Bakalov, Varna (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1975). Relations between enterprises and the budget in import and export, ed. University Karl Marx, Sofia (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1973). The economic organisation of socialist production and the theory of "convergence", ed. Profizdat, Sofia (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1969). Commodity Relations and Price Formation under Socialism, ed. Nauka i Izkustvo, Sofia (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1967). Forms of State Regulation of Self-Supporting Enterprises, Finance and Credit, 18 (7): 60-77 (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1966). Market Relations under Socialism, Economic Thought, (1): 33-50 Petrov, G. (1965). (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1966b). Taxes as an economic lever under socialism, Sofia, ed. Nauka i Izkustvo (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1966c). Labour and prices, vol. 3 (prices on the world socialist market, to be specified) (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1966d). On a single market price, Planned Economy, (1), to be specified (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1965). On the issue of customs duties and export premiums, Finance and Credit, 16 (3): 17-28 (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1965a). On certain issues of the exchange rate, Finance and Credit, 16 (10): 23-30 (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1964). On the basis of prices under socialism, Economic Thought, (9): 87-103 (in Bulgarian)

Petrov, G. (1961). Profit planning as a general economic indicator, Economic Thought, (1): 32-46 (in Bulgarian)

Tsagolov, N., ed. (1959). The law of value and its role in socialism, ed. Gosplanizdat, Moscow (in Russian)

Venediktov, P., M. Andreev (1949). Roman Law, ed. ed. Nauka i Izkustvo, Sofia (in Bulgarian)

*** Asselain, J-Ch. (1981). Plan et profit en économie socialiste, Presse de la fondation nationale des sciences politiques, Paris

Bornstein, M., Ed. (1973). Plan and market. Economic Reform in Eastern Europe, Yele University Press, New Haven and London

Dembinski, P. (1988). Les économies planifiées. La logique du système, Editions du Seuil, Paris

Lavigne, M. (1974). The socialist economies of the Soviet Union and Europe, London : Martin Robertson

Magnin, E., N. Nenovsky (2025). Energy and productivity-based theory of cycle and crisis. The monistic approach of Vladimir Bazarov (1874-1939), The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 32 (1): 35-57

Marczewski, J. (1973). Crise de la planification socialiste ? éd. PUF, Paris

Milenkovitch, D. (1971). Plan and Market in Yugoslav Economic Thought, Yale University Press, London

Montias, JM (1962). Central planning in Poland, London, Yale University Press

Nenovsky, N., T. Marinova (2025). History of planning and cybernetics in Bulgaria during socialism: the contributions of Evgeni Mateev, Economic History Working Papers, 2025/ N° 6, Paul Bairoch Institute of Economic History, Genève

Nenovsky, N. (2019). Money as a coordinating device of a commodity economy: Old and new, Russian and French readings of Marx, Part 1 Monetary theory of value (Roubine and Orléan), Revue de la Régulation, 26 (2), 20 pages, online

Seurot, F., (1978). La fonction d’utilité sociale en système socialiste, in : Lavigne, M., éd., (1978). Economie politique de la planification en système socialiste, Economica, Paris, 15-37

Spulber, N. (1956). Economic thinking and its application and methodology in Eastern Europe outside of Soviet Russia, American Economic Review, 46(2): 367-379

Tosi, D., V. Vitello, ed. (1960). Vecchia e nuova pianificazione economica in Polonia (contiributi di W. Bieda, C. Bobrowski, W. Brus, H. Cholaj, J. Jankowski, S. Jedrychowski, M. Kalecki, S. Kurowski, O. Lange, E. Lipinski, J. Marczewski, M. Mieszszankowski, B. Minc, J. Nowicki, J. Pajestka, M. Pohorile), Milano, Feltrineli Editore