Distribution in a Centrally Planned and Market-Oriented Economy

Distribution in market-oriented economies is shaped on the basis of market regulation while in socialist economies the main role is played by various types of nonmarket regulation. The seller's market is a structural characteristic of the socialist economy. Its consequences for various economic and social phenomena are entirely different from the buyer's market. The adaptive process of economic units proceeds differently. Characteristics of the market distribution and the administrative distribution playing a significant role in Poland differ as well. The distribution is characterized by its low adaptability, and it constitutes a bottleneck in the economy contributing with its high social costs to the deepening of the economic disequilibrium. The article discusses various characteristics of the centralized and administrative distribution. In the socialist economy, there exist parallely different systems of product allocation, which aggravates a negative impact of the distribution on the entire economy. It is characterized, moreover, by its excessive and unjustified concentration. The author points at directions of improving the distribution system in Poland.