ABSTRACT
For most of the period of the Kádár regime, following the economic reform of 1968, the productive units known as ‘state enterprises’ were not really exclusively in state ownership at all, but were effectively the joint property of the party and state bureaucracy and of the enterprise management. Moreover, since the internal division of ownership rights was neither open nor unambiguous, this ownership relation was a diffuse one, giving rise to never-ending struggles. For each type of ‘owner’ the aim was continually to acquire further rights and continually to avoid further responsibilities. However, in such conditions the enterprise management’s share in ownership was such that its wishes prevailed in the fundamental strategic decisions relating to enterprise property. In the first place, these were decisions relating to enterprise expenditure, development and product range.
