New Forms of Entrepreneurship in the USSR
介绍了苏联改革后出现的四种新型创业形式：独立国有企业、合作社企业、合资企业和有限责任公司，并分析了其法律地位和经营条件，对西方商人了解苏联商业环境有帮助。
NEW FORMS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE USSR Only two years ago in the Soviet Union the word was associated mainly with criminal activities. Now, it represents the essential underpinning of a new economic order built by Soviet reformers to replace the old, extremely inefficient command economy. Perestroika has allowed enterprising people to start more or less independent businesses and to choose from a relatively large selection of new forms of business organization. This new sector of the Soviet economy is growing fast and is, to some extent, open to Western businesspeople. However, it is difficult for Westerners to understand the conditions in which business activities occur and the legal status of their potential Soviet partners. Some general knowledge about the new forms of entrepreneurship opening up in the Soviet Union should therefore be useful. One must begin by clarifying the meaning of under actual Soviet conditions. In general, entrepreneurship involves starting and managing an independent business. However, the criteria for independence vary from one economic system to another. The following are essential from our point of view: * An independent enterprise must be free to expend its financial resources for legal purposes without any control from external authorities. The distribution of net profits among investments, bonuses, and retained earnings must be the subject of an internal decision. * An independent enterprise must be able to establish its own wage structure for employees. * An independent enterprise must be able to buy raw materials and sell products largely by way of free contracts. Prices may be fixed or limited by the state, but a contract itself must be a free agreement between independent subjects, not an order from a higher level of the industrial hierarchy to a lower level. Based on these criteria, the following general kinds of independent can actually be found operating in the Soviet economy at present. First, there are independent state and independent divisions of traditional state enterprises. This group includes so-called on the second model of accounting (predpriatia na vtoroy modeli hozraschota), which are traditional state with enhanced rights in finance, wages, and market operations; those rented by employees' groups (arendnie predpriatia), and finally, financially independent centers (hozraschetnie centry), which could be either independent or independent divisions of traditional state or organizations. Second, there are so-called enterprises (cooperativnie predpriatia), which from the Western point of view, are private owned by three or more persons. Third, there are two kinds of joint ventures (sovmestnie predpriatia) in the Soviet Union: joint ventures with a state enterprise from the Soviet side and joint ventures with a cooperative enterprise from the Soviet side. Both are independent by definition. Fourth, there is the small, but fast-growing group of limited liability (that is, unincorporated) companies (akcionernie predpriatia). Independent State Enterprises and Independent Divisions of State Enterprises Legal aspects. All state in the Soviet Union operate on the basis of USSR law governing state (Zakon SSSR o gosudacstvennom predpriatii). This law defines the rights and responsibilities of in general. However, one paragraph allows Soviet branch ministries to establish a special status for enterprises, thereby enhancing their rights and responsibilities by way of an individual decision. State have the same opportunity for their divisions. Therefore, each independent enterprise or independent division operates on the basis of a unique individual decision made by a higher-level establisher. Consequently, the rights and responsibilities of independent are widely different. …