Housing Reform in Socialist Economies
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WDP=125 Public Disclosure Authorized World BankDiscussion Papers Housing Reform Public Disclosure Authorized in Socialist Economies Public Disclosure Authorized Bertrand Renaud Public Disclosure Authorized FILEWOPY Recent World Bank Discussion Papers No. 67 Deregulationof Shipping: What Is to Be LeamedfromChile. Esra Bennathan with Luis Escobar and George Panagakos No. 68 PublicSector Pay and EmploymentReforn: A Review of WorldBank Experience.Barbara Nunberg No. 69 A MultilevelModel of SchoolEffectiveness in a DevelopingCountry. Marlaine E. Lockheed and Nicholas T. Longford No. 70 UserGroups as Producersin PartidpatoryAfforestation Strategies. Michael M. 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The complete backlist of publications from the WooddBank is shown in the annual Indexof Pkbubdons, wlich contains an alphabetical tide list (with fill ordeing information) and indexes of subjects, authors, and counties and regions. The latest edition is availablefree of charge from the Publications SalesUnit, Department F, The World Bank, 1818 H Street, N.W., Wasbington, D.C. 20433, U.SA, or from Publications, The Wodd Bank, 66, avenue d'Iena, 75116 Paris, France. ISSN: 0259-210X Bertrand Renaud is housing nnance adviser in the Infrastructure and Urban Development Department of the World Bank. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Renaud, Bertrand, 1939- Housing reform in socialist economies / Bertrand Renaud. p. cm. -- (World Bank discussion papers ; 125) Summary of the main conclusionsof a seminar held in Washington, D.C. on June 12-13, 1990. ISBN 0-8213-1829-2 1. Housing policy--Communistcountries--Case studies--Congresses. I. Title. II. Series. HD7286.R46 1991 363.5'8'091717--dc2O 91-17959 CIP ABSTRACT This paper summarizesthe main conclusions of the Seminar on Housing Reforms in Socialist Economiesheld in Washington,D.C. on June 12-13, 1990. The seminar was initiated to discuss the transitionfrom socialistsystems, where governmentcontrol and public ownership dominate, to market-basedhousing systems. This transitionto markets is new to everyone, and eight leading questions shaped the agenda: (1) Is there agreement about the ultimate goal of housing reform? (2) How significantis housingreform to overalleconomic reform? (3) Is there a choice between gradual and radical reform in terms of speed and scope? (4) Is there a minimum package of reforms that is generally applicableand should be implementedrapidly? (5) Is there a desirable sequencingof reform in the housing sector, and why? (6) What are the indirect, market-oriented policy instruments necessary to replace past direct administrative interventions by the state? (7) What kinds of new institutions must be created to support and structure housing markets during the transition?and (8) How can the momentumof reforms be preserved and monitored? A significantconsensus emerged at the seminar, and it was agreed that a reform framework based on the proceedings would be prepared to assist individual countries in formulatingtheir reform programs. This framework would also help to assess the World Bank's approach to its operationsin particular countries. The paper consists of two main parts. Part I: The Legacy of Central Planning and Transition Issues for Housing was prepared prior to the seminar and sets the stage for the developmentof a reform framework in three ways. First, it evaluatesthe legacy of Soviet-type central planning and previous reform experiments and describes critical differences between socialist housing systems and market-basedhousing. Then it examines in some detail the complex characteristicsof housing as an economic good, their implicationsfor market-oriented reform, and the redesignof socialhousing policies. Finally, it summarizesprevailing conditions in six major problem areas for managingthe transition to a market-basedsystem. This set of six reform areas is addressedin the frameworkitself. Part I is analyticalrather than operational, and readers familiar with both socialisteconomies and the housing sector may choose to proceed directly to Part Il. Part II: Framework for Housing Reform in SocialistEconomies presents the results of the seminar and provides a concise reference point for developmentof the national reforms accordingto each country's specificconditions. There is broad agreementthat the inefficiencies, distortions,and inequitiesin current housing systemshave created a situationthat is incompatible with a market economy, so that housing reform is indispensableif overall economic reform is to succeed. Taking into account the diversity of macroeconomicconditions and the significant differences in housing conditions faced by socialist countries, the frameworkidentifies priority issues and indicates directions for change in four main functional areas: (1) clarification and adjustmentsof property rights and the scope for privatization of publicly owned housing; (2) reduction and eliminationof distortions in rents, prices, and subsidies; (3) the developmentof soundand viable market-orientedfinance mechanisms