4 MAY 15 - 21 ECONOMY

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By Jan Klingelhöfer that German orchestras just had a one was severely restricted to develop fiercely because they would have oth- longer tradition than Soviet orchestras. a distinguishable identity, because all erwise been shot by members of the se- Here is a question that has bothered But not only German orchestras, but expression of individualism was under cret police.” me for a while and I am surprised that also American ones proved to be the the suspicion of being dissident, out- While it was always part of the so- nobody else seems to have asked it be- superior collectives. The Cleveland standing performance was a way to cialist vision to have highly motivated fore: Orchestra under Georg Szell, the Phila- meet the deep-rooted human aspiration workers who would supposedly not feel How comes Western countries had delphia Orchestra under Eugene to stand out as an individual. “alienation” as under capitalism, it is the better orchestras (collectives) and Ormandy, and the New York Philhar- obvious that in peacetime the Soviet the better classical mu- monic under Leonard Bernstein INTRINSIC VERSUS EXTRINSIC system could not replicate its wartime sic soloists during the Cold War? Would reached a level of accomplishment that MOTIVATION achievements. one not expect the contrary? And, per- was hardly seen in the Soviet Union. Another reason, often overlooked in haps more importantly: can economists Consequently, the all-star lineup of economic analysis, may be the impor- THE COST OF COMPETITION learn something relevant from this ob- those times combined Soviet soloists tant role of intrinsic motivation. Econo- Finally, one may ask whether the servation? with western orchestras. Because most mists are inclined to explain things by competition which permeates a market- Soviet stars were allowed to travel to referring to extrinsic incentives, but in system is exclusively conducive to per- MUSIC AND SPORTS the West since the , we have sev- a society where material incentives are formance. There were great orchestras both in eral recordings of this. largely lacking, what motivates people By conventional economic wisdom, the East and in the West and one could One could argue that the western is the inner drive to excel at something. competition is a decisive factor in mo- argue endlessly who were the greatest dominance in orchestras was in fact a Without any doubt, the lack of ex- tivating people to perform well. What soloists. However, Van Cliburn is still western superiority in conductors, who trinsic motivation to work for the in- is often overlooked, however, is that remembered for winning the Interna- could be considered to be soloists, simi- terest of society was an important rea- competition comes with a cost. A West- tional Tchaikovsky Competition in lar to star violinists and pianists. Yet son why socialism failed. Many ser- ern musician not only had to excel in 1958 in for the simple reason David Oistrakh, the greatest of the David Oistrakh (1908-1974), one of the vices were delivered only grudgingly, art, but also had to do well on various that it was a sensation at the time, as many great Soviet violinists, was per- greatest violinists of all times. (Source if at all, as people who experienced other dimensions. Successful Western Wikimedia Commons.) everybody had expected one of the fectly able to do without a western star socialism first-hand can confirm. In a soloists must be gifted in presenting countless Soviet talents to win. None- conductor when he conducted the West look at the largest possible collectives, market economy, on the other hand, themselves in interviews, press confer- theless, only a handful of music experts Berlin Philharmonic (besides playing societies as a whole? An interesting and even those with highly unpleasant work ences, and possibly advertisement cam- today think that Van Cliburn later in his the solo violin) for a legendary record- perhaps surprising pattern seems to usually show up on time and do a de- paigns. All this is part of the bigger career reached the same level of accom- ing of Mozart’s violin concertos. emerge. The larger the collective we cent job for the simple reason that they problem faced in market economies to plishment as the most famous Soviet Thus, we face the curious fact that look at, the larger was the superiority receive sufficient material compensa- make one’s living, as the government pianists, Sviatoslav Richter and Emil the less individualistic society managed of Western capitalist societies, at least tion. will not take care of it, a situation which Gilels. There is little doubt that Soviet to turn out the greater individualists but with hindsight. While many individual Therefore, to explain why great was even more pressing in the times of soloists could easily compete with and, the lesser collectives in classical mu- musicians and athletes could compete achievements at the individual level the Cold War. more often than not, win against almost sic. Are we up to something deeper and perhaps outcompete the West, So- were possible in the Soviet system, we In the Soviet Union, on the other everyone in the West. And they were here? In sports we see the same pat- viet society could not. Would one not must not disregard the intrinsic moti- hand, talented individuals were liber- superior not only on a purely technical tern: while the Soviet Union undeni- rather have guessed the opposite when vation of great artists and athletes. ated from any worries about providing level, as many Asians are today, but ably achieved excellence in individu- the great socialist experiment was Intrinsic motivation can also explain for their families, accumulating means also in musicianship. alistic sports, in team sports Western started? the outstanding example when the So- for their retirements, and presenting The same is not true for Soviet or- collectives often proved to be better. Let us search of explanations for this viet Union achieved real greatness on themselves in convincing ways. The chestras. While some of them were very Surely, the Soviets were superior in ice apparent paradox. a collective level: the defeat of Nazi Soviet system allowed intrinsically good indeed (the most highly acclaimed hockey, but in hardly any other team Germany 70 years ago. While it was motivated and highly talented individu- being the Leningrad Philharmonic Or- sport they performed as well as in dis- ESCAPE FROM CONFORMISM believed for a long time that it was the als to pursue their talents and to fully chestra under Mravinsky), they were ciplines in which individual athletes Living in a collectivist society, there fear of harsh punishment which kept devote themselves to things such as usually not considered to be the best in compete. Soviet soccer was often com- was a general lack of individualism: the fighters at the front, recent research music or chess by removing any ob- the world. When in 1969, the (West) petitive and won the first European there were little opportunities for So- by German historian Jochen Hellbeck stacles that could have prevented the Berlin Philharmonic played for the first Championship in 1960, yet it is most viet citizens to express their personali- emphasizes the large role of intrinsic achievement of excellence. time in Moscow under Karajan and per- remembered for Lev Yashin, a goal- ties in politics, at work, in economics, motivation of Red Army soldiers. He Summing up, while standard eco- formed Dimitri Shostakovich’s 10th keeper, arguably the most individual- and almost any other area of society. analyzed 215 interviews conducted nomic theory can explain the failure of Symphony, they caused a sensation not istic position in the game. While there The only possibility was to become with Red Army soldiers by the “Com- the Soviet economic system as a whole, only with the audience but also with the is little doubt that a collective effort excellent in something – as a star pia- mission on the History of the Patriotic it is not well-equipped to explain the composer himself. While most had ex- helped Soviet chess players, they still nist or athlete, one was allowed, and War”, founded in 1941 by Soviet his- surprising discrepancy between indi- pected the best German orchestra to be won as individuals with clearly distin- even encouraged, to develop one’s own torian Izrailevich Mints. As Michael vidual greatness and mediocre achieve- outstanding in their core Germanic rep- guishable styles of play. Perhaps some- style and personality, even if restricted Sontheimer summarizes in DER ments on the collective level. As I have ertoire, few had expected them to out- one more competent than me could to a very narrow domain of activity. SPIEGEL: “These latest findings com- argued, an explanation may be found shine Soviet orchestras in contempo- comment on similar observations in Beyond all socialist rhetoric, excellent pletely undermine the argument – put in intrinsic motivation, the desire for rary Soviet music. And this was not an physics, mathematics, or any other sci- athletes were celebrated mainly as in- forward by the Nazis and repeated by self-realization of highly talented indi- “exception that proves the rule” as in ence. dividuals, not as parts of collectives. the West during the Cold War – that the viduals, and the ambiguous character the Van Cliburn case. One might argue What if we go one step further and In other words, in a society in which Red Army soldiers only fought so of competition.

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