Expert board:

• Scientific Council of RAS on economic history;
• Research and Educational Center «The economic history of Central Russia and the Middle Volga region» of Ogarev Mordovia State University;
• Center of Economic History of  Lomonosov Moscow State University

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ISSN 2409-630X (Print), ISSN 2618-916X (Online)

DOI: 10.15507/2409-630X.044.015.201901.082-090

УДК 351.862.44:006

Andrey N. Kustyshev

Ukhta State Technical University (Ukhta, Russia),

e-mail: ak1059532@yandex.ru

 

THE PROBLEMS OF TECHNICAL REGULATION OF LABOR IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR OF THE NKVD (People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs) – MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs) OF THE USSR

 

Introduction. The article analyzes the problems of technical regulation of labour in the production sector of the NKVD – MVD of the USSR, the possibility of technical, psycho-physiological and economic justification of the production rate fixed for prisoners is determined. Research efforts in this direction contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms and features of the functioning of the system of forced labour, to allow for greater clarity in the interpretation of its effectiveness. Materials and Methods. The nature of the problems raised in the article determined the choice of historical-genetic, historical-systemic methods of research, allowing to consider the issue of technical regulation in the context of internal mechanisms of the functioning of the GULAG system, as well as its internal and external relations, dynamic changes. Results. The article analyzes the objective and subjective factors that determined in advance the presence of serious defects in the process of technical regulation. At the same time, attention is drawn to the substantial similarity of the camp sector and the civil sector of the Soviet economy. The author focuses attention on the fact that the state of technical regulation contributed to the spread of falsified production indicators and the opacity of the GULAG system. Discussion and Conclusion. The article concludes that the problems in this area eventually led to the deformation of a number of indicators of financial and economic activity of labour camps and colonies, brought unpredictability to the situation of prisoners, directly dependent on the implementation of production standards. This fact extremely limits the possibility of a qualitative analysis of the issue of the effectiveness of forced labor. The author notes that the spontaneous nature of the formation of the main parameters of production activity caused the uncontrollability and economic burden of the GULAG system, which eventually became one of the factors of its crisis and collapse.

Keywords: technical regulation, rate of output, quantity surveyor, irregular work, production performance, forced labor, registry, GULAG system, the Soviet economy.

 

For citation: Kustyshev A. N. The Problems of Technical Regulation of Labor in the Manufacturing Sector of the NKVD (People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs) – MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs) of the USSR. Ekonomicheskaya istoriya = Russian Journal of Economic History. 2019; 15(1): 82–90. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.15507/2409-630X.044.015.201901.082-090

 

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