Search

Counterfactual estimates of excess deaths in Russian regions in the period 2020–21 are compared with officially reported COVID deaths to analyse underreporting. COVID mortality levels at the end of years 2020 and 2021 as well as annual growth during 2021 and the first half of 2022 reveal that COVID is a real threat to high labour productivity regions and those with relatively bigger defence and civilian sectors. Corruption lowers COVID mortality growth, suggesting a public health system where better care is obtained informally. Improved access to a doctor just before the pandemic lowered the level of mortality during the worst year (2021) but did not impact the mortality growth or the mortality level in 2020. Better prevention of any virus including COVID in the future would include more regionally decentralised vaccine and testing initiatives to boost compliance plus a fundamentally reformed health system that includes access to foreign-made vaccines and higher quality mortality data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a general method of moments (GMM) aggregate production function adjusted for spatial autocorrelation, Russian regions 2001–2019 are found to exhibit no β convergence/divergence before 2009, 1% convergence 2009–2014 and then none again 2015–2019. Both human and physical capital contribute to aggregate growth as neoclassical theory predicts. Spatial autocorrelation suggests the measurement of spatial regional interdependence in Russia is more complex than in the U.S., EU or Mexico with the standard use of adjacent borders or railroad distances data not capturing regional interdependency. At the beginning of 2020, Russia's regions had not transitioned to intensive instead of extensive growth making regional growth stagnation and no further convergence likely in the decade to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Counterfactual estimates of excess deaths in Russian regions in 2020 are compared with actual deaths to measure the initial COVID impact. COVID is a real threat to high labor productivity regions and those with relatively bigger defense sectors. Corruption is surprisingly found to lower excess deaths. Legacy Soviet human capital and early Putin era democracy don't appear to impact excess deaths. Urban males are most threatened with an even greater negative impact on the economy as COVID moves into working age brackets in the medium term. Living in rural areas and/or in regions far from Moscow was relatively safer in 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a recently developed stochastic Translog production function frontier model, technical inefficiency, technological progress and returns to scale are examined during Russia’s 1998-2007 cyclical expansion at the branch level including both the market and non-market economy. The service sector plus high skill-intensive goods production is shown to be relatively more efficient than traditional Soviet era goods sectors. Technical efficiency decreases markedly over the expansion while technological progress is quite high (23 %) suggesting an expanding frontier leaving many branches behind as the economy adjusts away from the early transition era. Much greater attention to human capital policies are suggested to foster intensive growth in an environment of low oil and gas prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic performance of Chechnya is examined for the first time using an aggregate stochastic frontier production function method. The 15 sectors of the economy are found to be quite inefficient in the use of capital and labour to produce aggregate output. Extensive growth is likely to continue though at a lower rate as federal subsidies from Moscow end. Intensive growth is unlikely given the lack of foreign investment and the authoritarian political system. Some evidence for the emergence of a market economy is found, suggesting that Kadyrov has overseen an economic transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russian macroeconomic growth in the transition era is analysed across federal districts using a neoclassical production function often found in studies of Soviet-era economic growth. An adjusted capital stock series for Russian regions is created and used in the aggregate production function for 1995-2003 to analyse growth across the 11 federal districts in Russia. Federal district output growth is found to be explained well by neoclassical growth theory, indicating that poorer regions may converge to richer regions, thereby strengthening the Russian Federation. Federal districts also have high capital/labour ratios, suggesting that expanded regional domestic and foreign investment across Russia in the future will enhance growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines wages in rural Russia after the first decade of economic transition using data from a nationally representative household survey. The stochastic frontier analysis reveals that Russia's rural labour markets place high value on human capital. The overall level of rural wages, however, is very low, with the median wage 10% below the official subsistence level. The gender pay gap severely depresses women's wages. A woman with the same skills as a man is paid only 47% of the man's wage. Rural workers who receive income from their personal plots accept significantly lower wages. Private firms pay considerably higher wages than state or collectively owned firms, but account only for one fifth of rural workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An unusually detailed sample of large farms in Rostov, Ivanovo and Nizhny Novgorod regions of Russia in 2001 allows microeconomic examination of the production of grain and sunflower crops on Russian farms. Farms are found to have some excess capital and labour, but not land and other types of capital. New operators are found to be more efficient than other farms thought they do not necessarily produce more output. Neither rural infrastructure, location nor specialisation has a clear impact on farm efficiency. How workers are paid is found to be a potential short-term method for improving farm efficiency that would not involve major farm restructuring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying a stochastic industrial production function at the aggregate city level for 72 cities in a single Russian region reveals industry in a variety of cities is quite similar in the ability to produce gross industrial output efficiently during the early transition era 1993–95. Weak evidence is found for cities becoming more diverse in industrial performance during the period. Using additional inefficiency impact variables, some evidence was found for a more diversified industrial base and more locally retained profit tax revenue improving efficiency among cities in a given year, suggesting more diversified cities may perform better than a one-company town in the transition era. The hypothesis of an urban agglomeration effect improving efficiency found in the literature was rejected using distance and population density variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the geographical locations and public finances (PF) of the 12 closed cities in Russia. Factors contributing to the PF crisis in 1998; Insufficiency of tax revenue collected in the closed cities; Examination of the budget deficit with and without federal grants.

Analyzes the public finance policies in 12 cities of the Russian archipelago known as ZATO. Institution of transparent fiscal policy to overcome financial crisis; Utilization of the uniform classification code developed by the Ministry of Finance for all levels of government; Allocation of revenues and expenditures; Tax collection; Factors that influence spending priorities.