The Relative Efficiency of Military Research and Development in the Soviet Union: A Systems Approach,
Abstract
The Soviet military R&D sector benefits from a wide range of material, administrative, and other priorities, which impose heavy opportunity costs, expecially on civilian R&D. R&D is relatively more expensive in a command economy, so less of it should be used than in a market system. The Soviet use of much less R&D in its military sector is as rational as the American use of much more R&D where R&D is relatively less expensive. If less military R&D is used in the USSR, a measure of its efficiency derived as a ratio of military output to military R&D is biased upward. The relative efficiency of Soviet military output to military R&D is probably much lower than otherwise assumed because input costs are higher and output lower than usaually estimated. The arms race is costlier to the Soviet Union than otherwise believed, both absolutely and as an alternative to economic development. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA092730
Entities
People
- Gur Ofer
Organizations
- RAND Corporation