Sociologický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i.

O titulu

Kontakt

Redakční rada

Texty

Prodej, distribuce, objednávka

2003:6 The Transformations of Czech Socio-economic Values at the Turn of the Century

Zdeněk R. Nešpor (ed.)

The striking predominance of "mainstream" neoclassical economics and the absence of any extra-economic analyses of the economic dimension of the Czech transformation after 1989 have rendered the emergence of any satisfactory domestic socio-economic studies on the subject pretty well impossible. Consequently, the introduction to this volume analyses mainly foreign literature on the subject, and offers the theoretical and methodological starting points for economic sociology, and proposes their application in the study of the economic transformation that has occurred to date and its results, especially in connection with the integration of the Czech Republic into the European Union.
The focus of the study by Z. R. Nešpor and P. Holub is on a comparison of the contemporary Czech and Western cognitive and mental categories that influence socio-economic behaviour. In particular, they emphasise the strong historical and socio-cultural embeddedness of these categories and the strategies of behaviour they engender, which stem from the period of government of the communist regime, but in many regards date from an even earlier period. At the same time, the social and symbolic capital stemming from the period before 1989 is tied to the results achieved in the transformation and to the input from the advanced world, with numerous multi-dimensional syntheses occurring that influenced many institutional spheres and their interconnections. The biggest differences between the Czech Republic and the advanced world are however value-based in the attitudes towards the category of time (an orientation towards the future or the past), and in the relationship of the individual to supra-individual entities – including attitudes towards the state and the function of informal social networks – and in the relationship to capital, management and employment activities on the whole.
While the authors of the first study focus on the way the business sphere functions, M. Skovajsa in his study examines the development of its institutional framework, as formed by the offices of state administration. Here the author puts particular emphasis on the considerable degree of institutional immaturity in the Czech environment and on the trouble areas of informality and corruption.

Summary
With the exception of the theoretical and quantitative studies of J. Večerník, and the qualitative studies of J. Kabele, Czech scientists have thus far overlooked the issue of the dynamics of socio-economic values and behavioural practices in the post-1989 transformation process in the Czech Republic. Economic-sociological thought was therefore unable to have any impact on the public discourse relating to the transformation. The reason for this was the considerable dominance of “mainstream“ neo-classical economics, and at the same time the absence of any extra-economic analyses of the economic dimension of the Czech transformation after 1989, which rendered the emergence of any satisfactory domestic socio-economic studies on this subject practically impossible. However, the socio-cultural embeddedness of Czech institutions and mental schemes is what attracted the attention of Western academics – mainly L. Holý, M. A. Orenstein and M. R. Myant – inspired by recent developments in economic sociology and related fields. In this volume, the authors have attempted to broadly inform readers about these external analyses of the Czech transformation and its considerable path dependency and about the analyses that emphasise the historicism and economic nationalism of the Czech environment. At the same time the authors have devoted attention to the theoretical-methodological concepts of modern economic sociology and how they are applied in the study of socio-economic development of contemporary Czech society, especially in connection with the integration of the Czech Republic into the European Union. The volume also presents the results of two qualitative pilot surveys conducted as part of the research project Transformations of Socio-economic Values in the Process of the Czech Republic’s Preparation for Accession to the EU, which since 2003 has been carried out in the Department of Economic Sociology at the Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Prague.
Z. R. Nešpor and P. Holub have focused their study on a comparison of the contemporary Czech and Western cognitive and mental categories influencing the socio-economic behaviour of entrepreneurs and employees within the company sphere. In this they emphasise especially the strong historical and socio-cultural embeddedness of these categories and the strategies of behaviour engendered by them. In the Czech Republic, this conditionality encompasses not only the lasting interconnection with the period of the government of the communist regime, but in many regards also refers back to an even earlier period. Primarily this concerns the links with the period of the First Republic (1918-1938), which, on the other hand, in a number of cases are only declarative. The social and symbolic capital from the period prior to 1989 is of course also in a great variety of ways connected with the results achieved in the transformation and the input from the advanced world, wherein there occurred numerous multi-dimensional syntheses, manifesting themselves in all sorts of institutional spheres and their interconnections. This mainly involves relationships between the political and economic spheres, partially evoked by the legacy of the planned economy, but considerably expanded and reinforced during the first years of the transformation; a number of these socio-economic ties lie at the edges of legality or even beyond them.
On the basis of a qualitative survey conducted among Czech entrepreneurs with business contacts in Western Europe and among Western entrepreneurs in the Czech Republic, it is mainly possible to note the continuing fundamentally different value and behavioural orientations. In other words, it is possible to recognise the as yet unfinished state of the Czech transformation, or of its declared aims, which should wind up in the adoption of the socio-economic norms and behavioural models common among the advanced countries. The biggest differences can be found in the case of the attitude towards the category of time, where the Czech orientation towards the past and already attained results stands in sharp contrast to the Western European orientation towards the future. Evident in the relationship of the individual to supra-individual entities is the Czech consumer individualism, a legacy of the communist past, while the assumption of liberal norms is rather more declarative; it does not give consideration to the positive effect of larger social units and organisations, nor does it in any way contribute to them. An example would be the attitude towards the state, the most important trans-individual entity, which in the Czech business environment is perceived negatively, as the “state that takes“, and therefore an implicit sanction is given at the same time to the opportunity for abusing state-provided benefits and resources. The "state that takes" is also the "state that may be taken from” whenever possible, without it being necessary to sufficiently repay these resources. In some regions and branches this practice is extremely widespread, while Western entrepreneurs in the Czech Republic for the most part avoid it or have no access to it. This is related to the way in which the informal social networks and other illegal practices, including corruption, function, and which for small firms especially have become an existential necessity; conversely, the large foreign firms in some cases have the capability to force their own business culture on their surroundings. The difference between Western and Czech business strategies expresses itself also in the relationship to capital, to management and managerial organisations, and to employment activities on the whole (the intensity and manner of work, various types of flexibility etc.).
It also applies that all these fields to a notable degree influence the level of transaction costs and through this also have an impact on economic efficiency and competitiveness. That however does not signify the absolute (socio)economic superiority of Western business customs, norms and strategies over Czech ones, and even less so in the Czech environment, as there is also a strong contextual influence in effect, so that Western business people and companies in the Czech Republic must adapt, often forcibly, and not always in a positive sense. Nonetheless, adaptation is essential for them to be able to function in the given environment. Moreover, some aspects of the Czech environment even influence the European economic space as a whole. The most important positive differences in the Czech socio-economic behaviour as compared to Western, albeit offset by a number of other negative aspects, are its specific functional flexibility, its innovativeness, and its punctual involvement. Even though not all Western entrepreneurs and managers in the Czech Republic see much in the way of a business asset in these qualities and abilities, they are nonetheless abundantly used (and sometimes also abused) by both domestic and foreign firms. At the same time, however, the Czech socio-economic norms and practices and those recognised in the advanced world seem to be converging, which could be interpreted as a sign that business institutions are moving closer together. Here, a paramount role is played by foreign entrepreneurs and firms active in the Czech Republic, while the adaptive capacity of Czech entrepreneurs that have business ties in the advanced world is not too great.
While the authors of the first study focused on the way the Czech business environment functions, M. Skovajsa in his study examines the development of its institutional framework, especially in relation to the Czech Republic’s entry into the European Union. The author carried out qualitative research among officials at various levels in state administration, whose responsibility is the Czech integration into this community, and he compared their experiences and attitudes with the visiting Western administrators (twinners). He emphasises the minimal awareness of any cultural shock in the encounter of the Czech state apparatus with the economic, political and legal culture of the advanced world, which is explained through the continuation of economic and social traditions dating from the First Republic. The negative aspects of the way in which the state apparatus itself functions, above all corruption and informality, are not however overlooked or even denied, but their source is not found to lie in cultural differences and is rather located in other factors, such as low wages or the absence of motivational elements. And this opinion comes to the fore primarily in the perception of the abilities and activities of European officials expressed from the point of view of their Czech colleagues. Practically the only positive aspects of Czech state administration that surpass the European are in the area of work flexibility and the ability to improvise; although even in these areas it is questionable if it is not more a matter of an outcome that stems from an inadequately functioning institutional environment. The author at the same time draws attention to the relatively limited knowledge of the domestic administrators in the area of how integration processes and the mechanisms of administrative institutions associated with them actually function in practical terms. The Czech officials do not realise these differences and, just as in the case of the high degree of corruption and informality, they are not able to admit to the decidedly superior European standards. This applies even more so in one area that, although they influence it, they do not actually enter into themselves: the institutional framework of the business environment. The majority of integration decisions in this sphere are aimed exclusively at legislative harmonisation and macroeconomic effects, without dealing any more profoundly with their practical impact or the broader interests of Czech entrepreneurs. In addition, these are decisions of a rather more short-term and mid-term character, which are not backed by any deeper socio-economic visions of the future based on a mainly strict utilitarian interest.
The conclusions reached in the research to date and presented in the pages of this volume will in years to come be further verified, revised and specified over the course of additional ongoing research. In this, both quantitative and qualitative methods of economic sociology will be used. The research field will be expanded to take in an analysis of the broad social, political and professional reception of the results to date of the Czech transformation by means of an analysis of the media, secondary sources, focus groups and further interviews. The completion of research and the summary presentation of its results to the professional and lay public are planned in 2005.

Keywords
Czech Republic - history 1992; European Union - expansion; transformation; economic sociology; contemporary history; cultural values