The Czechoslovak Iron and Steel Industry: Productive efficiency under state socialism in a comparative perspective

Czechoslovak productive efficiency of the iron and steel sector fluctuated below the energy efficiency frontier. Until early 1970s, the country's iron sector was one of the least efficient ones in our sample. It was, however, during the decades of 1970s and 1980s that efficiency measures were adopted and the energy efficiency of the Czechoslovak iron and steel sector increased significantly to, despite of a priori expectations, reach the energy efficiency frontier. Empirical results for other planned economies show similar development of catching-up to the market economies, particularly in the iron production sector. Central-planning was thus able to achieve satisfactory productivity increases, primarily driven by efficiency enhancements and in spite of the slow adoption of new technology. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.