Socialist Competition: Organization, Dynamics of Premium Payments (the Second Half of the 1940s)

Abstract

Introduction. One of the methods of restoring the economy destroyed by the war and eliminating the economic consequences of the war was socialist competition. The purpose of the work: to characterize the policy of socialist competitions in Soviet urban society, to analyze the volume of bonus payments in various industries, to identify their dynamics that occurred in the second half of the 1940s. Materials and Methods. The methodological basis of the research is the modernization historical paradigm. When writing the article, the author was guided by the principles of historicism and objectivity. Work with historical sources was carried out through general scientific and historical methods. Results and Discussion. The organizational mechanisms of socialist competitions are considered, bonus payments for victory at enterprises of various industries are analyzed. It was revealed that the largest payments and the number of bonuses for winning the All-Union socialist competition were recorded at the enterprises of the Ministry of Railways, enterprises and construction sites of the coal industry, electrical industry. The size of individual bonuses of workers varied depending on the industry, the status of the competition, the position of the employee. In 1948, the prizes for winning the socialist competition were reduced by 50 %. Conclusion. Socialist competition, as a practical method of intensifying production and increasing labor productivity, in the post-war years demonstrated its effectiveness and efficiency in solving economic problems facing the state.