THE STORMING PATTERN OF ENTERPRISE BEHAVIOR IN A CENTRALLY PLANNED-ECONOMY

Storming refers to an extremely uneven pattern of enterprise performance with a disproportionately large share of output being produced at the end of the planning period. I review the traditional explanations of storming and suggest new ones. I argue that enterprises find it easier to get away with producing lower quality output in the end of the planning period. Therefore, an enterprise waits until the end of the period when it can fulfill the plan with output of lower quality. I illustrate this thesis using a game-theoretic model where storming behavior is a subgame-perfect equilibrium strategy. © 1991.