Workers' self-management and planning: The Yugoslav case

The new constitution that Yugoslavia adopted in 1974 provides an elaborate blueprint for a workers' self-managed economy. One feature of the constitutional changes is that, in addition to continuing to strengthen the role of workers in decision-making, they strengthen the ability for macroeconomic co-ordination and, specifically, the role of planning. To reconcile the seemingly conflicting objectives of decentralizing and co-ordinating decision-making, a novel form of participative planning was introduced. The new system of self-management planning, although having elements of central planning and indicative planning, is radically different from both. This paper, after briefly reviewing the evolution of planning in Yugoslavia, analyses the rules, procedures and theoretical premises of the new system of planning codified in 1976.