Which aspect of communist economies kept them from matching the production efficiency and quality of free-market economies? -food shortages -overproduction of agricultural products -central economic planning -lack of natural resources

The correct answer is: "central economic planning "

In a centrally planned economic systems, the economic authorities are in charge of designing the production activities based on forecasting economic outcomes, which in a market economy would result from the free interaction of economic agents in the markets, such as: the amount of output produced in every industry, the amounts of factors of production needed, the prices of products and factos, etc.

One of the main disadvantages of this system is its ineffiency, if compared to market economies. First of all, due to the difficulty of forecasting accurately figures such as the total production needed of each good or service. Moreover, there are important operating and administrative costs in every operation. This system is slow to respond to consumer needs and frequently, there are shortages or surpluses in the markets.