Abstract:

The realisation of the importance of the market and of market research is of relatively recent origin in the socialist Countries. The need had been shown even under the highly centralised system of a planned economy which relied mainly on 19 planning instructions, but only in relatively narrow fields, and appeared only when these concrete instructions concerning the specification of output began to lose their importance and the assignment of compulsory buyers became reduced in scope. As a consequence, there is as yet no sufficient practical experience available, research of the socialist market has as yet not acquired the past which would enable the formulation of a theory and the elaboration of satisfactory practical methods, scientifically founded in every respect.