<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The article aims to verify whether, in the 1980s, there was a significant decrease in the involvement of the regional communist party structures in charge of economic affairs in Poland. The analysis is made on the case of the Warsaw Committee (KW) of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PUWP). Archival documents gathered in the State Archive in Warsaw were used to perform the analysis. The protocols of the meetings of the Executive and Secretariat 1970–1989 were collected, described and analysed. Moreover, the analysis was supplemented by the Statistical Yearbooks of Warsaw (GUS, 1957–1974), the Statistical Yearbooks of the Capital City of Warsaw (GUS, 1976–1981) and the Journal of Laws of the People's Republic of Poland 1970–1989. A statistical analysis of economic activity of the KW of the PUWP in the context of macroeconomic variables and economic activity of central authorities was performed. The correlation coefficient between macroeconomic performance and Party activity indicates the convergence of both trends in the 1970s and the lack of correlation in the 1980s. The decline in engagement after 1978 was unprecedented. In this period, there was a discrepancy between the activities of the central government and the Party apparatus, which remained in place until the end of the system. Institutional mechanisms in the Principal–Agent relation weakened significantly in 1980s.</p>
</abstract>

The article aims to verify whether, in the 1980s, there was a significant decrease in the involvement of the regional communist party structures in charge of economic affairs in Poland. The analysis is made on the case of the Warsaw Committee (KW) of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PUWP). Archival documents gathered in the State Archive in Warsaw were used to perform the analysis. The protocols of the meetings of the Executive and Secretariat 1970–1989 were collected, described and analysed. Moreover, the analysis was supplemented by the Statistical Yearbooks of Warsaw (GUS, 1957–1974), the Statistical Yearbooks of the Capital City of Warsaw (GUS, 1976–1981) and the Journal of Laws of the People's Republic of Poland 1970–1989. A statistical analysis of economic activity of the KW of the PUWP in the context of macroeconomic variables and economic activity of central authorities was performed. The correlation coefficient between macroeconomic performance and Party activity indicates the convergence of both trends in the 1970s and the lack of correlation in the 1980s. The decline in engagement after 1978 was unprecedented. In this period, there was a discrepancy between the activities of the central government and the Party apparatus, which remained in place until the end of the system. Institutional mechanisms in the Principal–Agent relation weakened significantly in 1980s.

Activity of the Regional Polish United Workers’ Party Apparatus in 1970–1989

Central European Economic Journal

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The article aims to verify whether, in the 1980s, there was a significant decrease in the involvement of the regional communist party structures in charge of...

	Economic issues number (ln)	National income	Investment rate	Investment rate in Warsaw
Economic issues number (ln)	1
National income	−0.12	1
Investment rate	−0.21	0.99	1
Investment rate in Warsaw	−0.11	1	0.99	1

Year	Number of legal acts regarding to economy
1956	99
1957	120
1958	120
1959	98
1960	100
1961	82
1962	71
1963	72
1964	57
1965	67
1966	70
1967	56
1968	62
1969	50
1970	45
1971	39
1972	67
1973	50
1974	71
1975	94
1976	70
1977	59
1978	48
1979	57
1980	30
1981	69
1982	125
1983	115
1984	95
1985	92
1986	52
1987	56
1988	109
1989	125

	Economic issues number (ln)	National income	Investment rate	Investment rate in Warsaw
Economic issues number (ln)	1
National income	0.64	1
Investment rate	0.62	0.95	1
Investment rate in Warsaw	0.71	0.99	0.88	1

Activity of the Regional Polish United Workers’ Party Apparatus in 1970–1989

Published Online: May 03, 2021

Page range: 79 - 94

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ceej-2021-0006

Keywords
centrally planned economy, PUWP, economic policy, economic history

© 2021 Dariusz Standerski, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Correlation of variables 1978–1989

j.ceej-2021-0006.apptab.001

Correlation of variables 1970–1978

Activity of the Regional Polish United Workers’ Party Apparatus in 1970–1989

Published Online: May 03, 2021

Page range: 79 - 94

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ceej-2021-0006

Keywordscentrally planned economy, PUWP, economic policy, economic history

© 2021 Dariusz Standerski, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Correlation of variables 1978–1989

j.ceej-2021-0006.apptab.001

Correlation of variables 1970–1978

Keywords
centrally planned economy, PUWP, economic policy, economic history