70 SOCIAL SCIENTIST Such a hypothesis is open to question as factors which influence innovation in a capitalist system will have to differ fundamentally from those in a socialist society, given the nature of the production relations^ socio-political priorities and dispersion of gains from any technological change. The author's view that it is the ^managerial5 class which plays a crucial role in innovation generation cannot be accepted as being necessarily true of any socialist society. Further, given the present character of the political superstructure in the Soviet Union, and the increasing power of the so-called ^managers and technocrats9, it is erroneous to suggest that what is true for the Soviet Union today is true for all socialist societies in terms of the ^rulesof choice5 between alternate technologies. Part I of the book is an account of the organization and units of the economic system,, with particular reference to those most directly involved in the organization process, and the effect of the organization on the enterprise's decision to innovate. Each chapter seeks to answer the question: What effect does the marshalling of the supply of inputs (materials and equipment, research and development, services, labour and financial resources) have on the enterprise's decision to innovate? This part concludes with a discussion of the impact of the mechanism of marketing the output on the process of innovation. Part II deals with the influence of the price structure on the innovation decision: the cost behaviour of new products and its consequence for profitability, and the measures adopted to solve problems raised by cost behaviour. Finally, the effects of the methods of price administration, as distinct from the principles of pricing, on the innovation decision are discussed. Part III discusses the ^rules of choice5 between alternative production programmes, the incentives and rules that govern decision makings certain special incentives established to encourage the decision to innovate and the general effect of the structure of incentives on the innovation decision. The essential conclusion of the book is that it is difficult to give an unambiguous and positive answer to the question being examined regarding the capacity of a 'socialist5 society to generate technological change. Berliner bases a great many observations on purely qualitative "evidence9 and has very weak statistical or quantitative evidence to support his assertions. Since issues relating to possibilities of change and innovation under socialism are necessarily influenced by value judgements, the lack of adequate quantitative evidence makes one hesitate to take him seriously, especially in view of the tremendous strides the Soviet Union has made on a variety of fronts. SANJAYA BAKU