Wild Capitalism, Privatisation and Employment Relations in Serbia

We examine the phenomenom of wild capitalism under Post Communist transformation. Many commentators on post Communist transformation focus their attention on dysfunctional corporate governance and the deleterious consequences of liberalisation on business ethics. Poor business ethics and bad corporate governance may be a consequence of labour exploitation for comparative advantage, and the abandonment of party authority. This allowed rapacious rent-seeking by a minority well placed to benefit from the newly deregulated regime. A by-product is a burgeoning informal economy encouraged by insider dealing of privatised state assets. State regulation, where it exists, is often ignored. Employment relations are fragmented, with state-owned enterprises retaining some form of collective regulation, while newly privatised enterprises seek to marginalise union activity.