Did the Transformation to PostCommunism in Eastern Europe Restore Pre-Communist Property Relations?

PWP-CCPR-2003-030

Abstract

Using data from Szelenyi and Treiman’s 1993 six-nation survey of Social Stratification in Eastern Europe, we find that the transformation from socialism substantially restored precommunist property relations in the five Eastern European countries studied here (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia).  Continuity between the pre- and postcommunist period with respect to property ownership can be attributed (1) to property holdings remaining intact throughout the communist period; (2) to the restitution of property to the original owners or their heirs in the post-communist period; and (3) to the achievement of highstatus occupations during the communist period which facilitated the acquisition of property during that period.  Business ownership in post-communist Eastern Europe is linked directly to pre-communist property holding only in Hungary and Bulgaria, although there are indications that pre-communist property holdings exerted an indirect effect on post-communist business ownership by enhancing the odds of attaining elite occupations during the communist period.