Market Output

in the USSR, the total monetary value of the commodities produced by industrial and agricultural enterprises and intended for sale.

The market output of industrial enterprises includes the value of finished goods produced either from the enterprises’ own materials or from materials provided by the customer and accepted by the Department of Technical Control; it also includes the value of goods delivered to the warehouses of industrial enterprises and intended for sale to outside customers, the value of semifinished goods processed by the enterprises for outside customers, and the value of work of an industrial nature carried out in accordance with orders from outside organizations or in order to meet the enterprises’ own nonindustrial needs. Exceptions are seen in certain branches of light industry and the food-processing and lumber industries, where market output includes intrafactory turnover, that is, that part of the value of finished and semifinished goods utilized for further processing within the enterprise on the condition that the goods be transferred from one department to another at wholesale prices.

In contrast to the gross output of an industrial enterprise, market output includes neither the increase nor the decrease in the value of semifinished products (and work in progress) intended for further processing within the enterprise; nor does it include changes in the volume of uncompleted production. Market output exceeds total sales volume by the value of that portion of the output that has been warehoused or has not yet been shipped to a customer. Differences can also arise when the goods have been shipped but payment has not yet been entered in the enterprise’s current or credit account. Market output will be less than total sales volume if output produced earlier is sold within a given accounting period.

Market output is planned by the so-called factory method. Total market output, either of one branch of industry or of the national economy as a whole, is determined by adding up the data of individual enterprises.

Market output may be calculated using either current wholesale prices (exclusive of turnover tax) or prices adjusted so as to be comparable with those of the previous year. This indicator is used in projections regarding costs and profits and in determinations of the actual profit in various kinds of accounts. Moreover, in order to compare figures on market output with target figures, output is calculated using the enterprise’s wholesale prices as adopted in the plan; however, to represent changes in production, labor productivity, output-capital ratios, and other economic indicators in those branches of industry where market output is used in evaluating the total volume of industrial production, market output is calculated in prices of July 1,1967.

Market output in agriculture includes agricultural products sold to the state, to cooperatives, to workers and other employees of sovkhozes and subsidiary or auxiliary farms, and to kolkhoz members, as well as to the general population at kolkhoz markets. State purchases of agricultural products represent the bulk of agricultural market output, and their volume serves as an extremely important indicator in evaluating the state plan for developing agricultural production. Market output here differs from gross output in that it does not include the value of goods that circulate within a village, that is, the direct sale or exchange of products between agricultural enterprises or between these enterprises and the local population.

Agricultural market output is calculated in both physical and monetary terms; in the latter case, actual sales prices are used, including any applicable premiums for sales in excess of the planned amount. Sales of products by individuals and agricultural enterprises to the state are calculated in accordance with state purchase prices, while sales by kolkhozes and individuals at markets for the produce of household plots are calculated in accordance with the respective market prices. In order to calculate the changes in market output, prices are adjusted so as to be comparable with 1973 prices. The ratio of market output to gross output represents the marketed portion (tovarnost’) of agriculture. This ratio is an important indicator for decisions on the locations of agricultural production and on agricultural specialization.