Preface

Whatever merit is found in this venture is much to the credit of Indiana University's International Development Research Center for providing the resources, an outstanding staff, and that intangible plus, “the environment,” without which this work could not have been completed. I am indebted above all to the director of the Center, George J. Stolnitz, who, in addition to his role as project executive, has found time to subject each of the many drafts to searching scrutiny and advice that few authors are fortunate enough to receive. His insights, critical comments, and numerous editorial suggestions have immeasurably improved the collection and presentation of data.

This volume owes a great deal to the expertise of Gary Eubanks, who designed the computer systems of the underlying data bank. The project under his tutelage has become an occasion of creativity. I am immensely grateful for his skill and infinite patience in solving the endless new problems I posed.

My special appreciation goes further to Robert Campbell of Indiana University for his particularly helpful detailed comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. Parts of earlier drafts were read also by Edward Hewett, Heinrich Machowski, and Alec Nove; to the latter I am especially indebted for calling attention to the important and fascinating problem of unspecified residuals in U.S.S.R. exports.

While the idea of the book was still in its formative stages, the Center received helpful advice from Robert Baldwin, Alan Brown, Franklyn Holzman, Michael Kaser, John Michael Mon- tias, Egon Neuberger, Frederic Pryor, Nicholas Spulber, and Leon Smolinski.

It is a pleasure to acknowledge the conscientious help of my able assistant, Nola Miller, in managing the data files, and the support of the Center staff, headed by Evelyn Lowing, and her successor, Norma Snapp. My special appreciation goes to Sherry Dunham and Anne Waaland for efficiently typing the many drafts and tables, and to Susan Kaplan for helping to edit numerous drafts.

Thanks are due the Slavic-language reference librarians in Bloomington and New York and special appreciation to Gertrude Palmer, of the Statistical Library of the United Nations, for frequently retrieving materials in use, to which I could not have had access without her help.

I owe special thanks to my wife for helping with the calculations, but mainly for being so understanding, always.

None of the foregoing is responsible for the errors and inaccuracies that are bound to be discovered in a work of this magnitude and detail. Any notifications by readers to me of inaccuracies or of newly available data would be greatly appreciated.

Paul Marer

Bloomington, Indiana