ABSTRACT
Joint East–West ventures can be located either in the East or in the West. This chapter discusses these two types of partnerships. Socialist joint ventures in the West are naturally established and operated in accordance with local bourgeois laws and customs. There are instances of joint ownership with companies which can be classed as multinational. Joint East–West ventures located in Socialist countries are of greater interest because they represent the ownership of capital by private capitalists where otherwise virtually all means of production have been socialized. Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia are virtually the only Socialist countries permitting joint ventures with capitalist firms within their borders. In Hungary joint ventures are limited to the service sphere – trade, research and development, consulting and the like. Socialist joint ventures in the capitalist world are, evenly divided between Western and less-developed countries, and in most cases capitalist partners are smaller trading firms without multinational affiliations.
