Foundations of the law on industrial organisations in Russia and the former republics of the USSR: 1985-1990

The industrial organisations introduced into the law of the USSR from 1987, and thereafter into the law of the former republics, developed upon a foundation that was rooted in Soviet law and was constructed during the period from 1985 to mid-1990. While this study focuses on the industrial economy, certain aspects of the agrarian economy, and in particular the early history and structure of the collective farm, are considered where appropriate. The thesis presents an entirely new understanding both of the nature of these developments and of the significance of the law on ownership. The foundations of the law on industrial organisations are conceptualised within specific heuristic models which are elaborated in an attempt to consolidate and highlight the key steps in this history. It is argued that Soviet law did not contain a concept of the "generic owner" or a developed understanding of the ownership of a juridical person, in particular by multiple owners holding "ownership interests" of that juridical person; and that their absence critically impaired a rational and coherent structure for the foundations of the law on industrial organisations both within the Stalin economic settlement and the new economic constitution of 1990