The Preobrazhenskii-Feldman Myth and the Soviet Industrialization

Abstract

The standard view of Soviet industrialization is that it aimed at accelerating economic growth by giving preference to heavy industry, a strategy credited to Preobrazhenskii and Feldman. This view ignores massive evidence on the objectives of industrialization and implies irrational behavior by the Soviet rulers. A simpler interpretation accepts the Soviet proclamations about the military buildup as the objective of both industrialization and the priority of heavy industry. Such a policy, well known from history, did not need to be invented by economic theorists. It was not Soviet secrecy, but the incentives of academic Sovietology that gave rise to the standard view.

Keywords: Soviet economy, industrialization, heavy industry

JEL Classification: B22, N44, P20, O14