THE SO-CALLED SPECIFICS OF THE SLOVAK ECONOMY

The so-called specifics of the Slovak economy play an important role in discussions on the economic system of Czechoslovakia; they are used in support of a need to adapt the economic reform to particular Slovak conditions. The aim of this paper is to scrutinize some of the special features that are most often mentioned. It is usual to say that in Slovakia, industries are mostly concentrated which represent the primary phase of production - industries producing intermediary products which are then supplied to the Czech republic. Czech industry, on the contrary, is said to have a higher share of production for final use. If, however, we study the available statistical data on the structure of production by industry in the Czech and Slovak republics, and on the structure of inter-industry flows, we find that differences in the share of final production can hardly be proven. If there exist some significant differences, they are often contradictory to the common belief: in fact, as much as 64% of supplies of Czech enterprises to Slovakia are intermediary products, while the figure for Slovak supplies to the Czech Republic is only 52,4 %. Statistical data further show that the Slovak economy consumes per unit of production more materials and intermediary products than the Czech economy. For Slovakia, imports of materials from the former Soviet Union play especially important role. In absolute terms, of course, the Czech Republic uses at least twice as much of all categories of imports than the Slovak Republic. An important problem of Slovakia is the volume of military production, and the social and economic consequences of its ongoing conversion. The share of Slovakia in total Czechoslovak armament industry was estimated at 60 % at the end of the eighties; its conversion could, in Slovakia, hit as many as 50 thousand jobs. Other regions hit by the conversion of military production are the South-Moravian region, and the Prague agglomeration. An important specific feature of the Slovak economy is its higher degree of openness toward the Czech regions. In other words, the Slovak economy is more dependent on supplies to the Czech republic than vice versa (the dependence of the Czech Republic on sales to Slovakia is lower). Supplies to Slovakia represented at the end of the eighties 11.5 % of total sales of the Czech enterprises; supplies to the Czech Republic represented almost 27 % of total sales of the Slovak enterprises. This difference would be important for economic consequences which a possible breakdown of the Federation would have in both republics. Another specific feature of the Slovak economy is a generally lower efficiency of production, and lower export capability. Owing to some of the specific features, economic reform, as well as the changes in the external environment, have a stronger impact on the Slovak economy than on the Czech one. Disturbances in supplies of strategic raw materials from the former Soviet Union, economic decline in the former C. M. E. A. countries, and changes of payment conditions in trade with these countries, can hit the Slovak economy harder than the Czech one - owing to a different territorial structure of its exports and imports. Also the conversion of military production is a more serious problem in Slovakia. However, the question remains whether these are sufficient reasons for the formulation and realization of some principally different economic reform in Slovakia, or even for economic separation of Slovakia. On the contrary: such separation could further aggravate the present problems, and make the process of economic transformation of Slovakia still more difficult.