Public Economic Analysis Bureau

one of the organizational forms that serves to involve workers, engineers, technicians, and white-collar personnel in production management. The bureaus first appeared in 1960 at enterprises in Sverdlovsk Oblast, during a competition for the titles of Collectives of Communist Labor and Shock Workers of Communist Labor. The public economic analysis bureaus are set up at industrial enterprises, scientific research institutes, and other institutions at the initiative of the workers themselves, and they function on a volunteer basis.

Bureau membership is open to highly skilled workers, production innovators, economists, bookkeepers, foremen, and production engineers. Methodological guidance is provided by the enterprise’s planning department and production economics laboratory. The bureau’s work is supervised by the enterprise director, deputy director for economic questions, or chief economist.

The bureaus usually consist of four sections: planning and economic analysis, bookkeeping and finances, labor rates and wages, and material and equipment supply. They are concerned with seeking out unutilized resources in order to raise labor productivity and reduce prime costs. They also disclose the reasons for the formation of surplus inventories of materials, semifinished goods, preassembled articles, finished products, and incomplete production at the enterprises. At many enterprises the bureaus work in cooperation with the functional departments (departments in charge of planning, financing, labor rates, materials, and personnel) to calculate more rigid standards for commodity and supply inventories. In addition, they review the use of working time in the shops, study the procedures used by advanced workers, and help the employees to master advanced work techniques and methods. Recommendations are worked out for all the questions analyzed.

By participating in the activities of the public economic analysis bureau, members gain experience in managing production. They become familiar with conditions in their own shops, at the enterprise, in the branch of industry in which they work, and in the national economy as a whole. This knowledge contributes to more efficient work. In the early 1970’s, there were more than 68,000 public economic analysis bureaus in the USSR.