The Legacy of Janos Kornai: Collected Economic Essays on Janos Kornai

“Kornai (1928–2021), a Hungarian economist who eventually joined the faculty at Harvard, is best known for his work on socialist economic systems, and as a part of that work, the development of the con­cept of the soft budget constraint (SBC). He wrote 12 books and more than 200 articles, so for readers interested in Kornai’s ideas, this volume offers a good introduction.” (Randall G. Holcombe, Public Choice, September 24, 2025)

“Janos Kornai was one of the foremost economic thinkers in the world. It is a great pity that his work didn’t receive quite as much attention as it deserved. I am delighted that Professor Mehrdad Vahabi has written this beautiful book about the importance of Kornai’s contributions. We have reason to be grateful to him.” (Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate 1998, Harvard University)

“Janos Kornai was the world’s leading scholar on the differences between socialist and capitalist economies, and no one knows his work better than Mehrad Vahabi. In this volume, Professor Vahabi collects many of his important papers on Kornai’s contributions and offers an introduction that ties them all together. The book will be of great value to anyone seeking a deep understanding of Kornai’s legacy.” (Eric Maski, Nobel Laureate 2007, Harvard University)

“Kornai was the first to identify the unreformable nature of the communist regime, a key factor in the transformation of the communist world. However, many economists are not very familiar with this important discovery, let alone Kornai’s broader work. This excellent book by Mehrdad Vahabi, a leading expert on Kornai’s ideas, is a must-read for anyone interested in economic systems, communism-socialism, and China.” (Chenggang Xu, Senior Research Scholar, Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions)

“Janos Kornai ranks among the twentieth century’s most eminent economists. In this book Mehrdad Vahabi shares with us his deep and expert knowledge of Kornai’s ideas so that we can better understand Kornai’s intellectual legacy. The result is an excellent and most welcome guide to a giant of modern political economy.” (Peter Leeson, George Mason University, Editor in chief of Public Choice)

“Janos Kornai is one of the most important economists of the twentieth century. He tackled some of the big issues of our time, from the analysis of socialism to the theory of markets. Since 1995, Mehrdad Vahabi has produced a series of astute commentaries on Kornai’s contributions. Few are better placed to extricate and examine Kornai’s great insights. I highly recommend this insightful collection of essays. It is a wonderful monument to Kornai’s contribution.” (Geoffrey Hodgson, Loughborough University London, Editor in chief of Journal of Institutional Economics)