Issue 1 (74)
| SECULAR TRENDS OF INCOME INEQUALITY IN RUSSIA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE STATISTICAL DYNAMICS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 2022 | Number | 1(74) |
| Pages | 6-15 | Type | scientific article |
| UDC | 94(470):338.001.36 | BBK | 63.3(2)6+65.03(2)6 |
| Authors | Didenko Dmitry V. |
Topic | INCOME INEQUALITY OF RUSSIA’S POPULATION IN THE 20TH CENTURY |
| Summary | The article classifies and appraises the long time series on income inequality in Russia/USSR developed over the past 25 years. It discusses various issues of the source studies and methodological problems that arise in the process of constructing such series and their interpretation. Trends in dynamics of income inequality identified in the works under review, are compared with other findings from topical research literature. In particular, the author argues as overestimations the values of indicators of income and wealth inequality in pre-revolutionary and post-Soviet Russia proposed in the study by T. Piketty and his disciples F. Novokmet and G. Zucman. Their values of income inequality during the Soviet period are questioned as underestimated. At the same time, our evidence supports their findings as regards comparability of inequality level in recent times and at the beginning of the 20th century, that is adequate for institutional environment of a market economy at the stage of early industrial modernization. The paper argues extensions of the long time series by recent values and revision of selected estimates from the works by D. Didenko and his coauthors. In one case, what is at issue is the series of “white- vs blue-collar workers in industry” wage differential per 1 year of education in organized forms. The indicator is considered as a proxy for income inequality based on human capital theory and supported by relatively reliable statistical evidence for the period from 1913 to 2019. In another case, the author proposes wage inequality series for the period 1968–2019 by linking the corrected estimates from research literature on the late USSR and the data from Rosstat. The former group is revised upwards thus capturing the effects of nonmonetary privileged benefits of the elite. Some promising lines in future developments of long time series on the topic are indicated. | ||
| Keywords | long historical data series, Russia’s economic history, human capital, institutions, Gini index, wage differential | ||
| References |
Alexeev M. V., Gaddy C. G. Income Distribution in the U.S.S.R. in the 1980s. Review of Income and Wealth, 1993, vol. 39, iss. 1, ðð. 23–36. DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4991.1993.tb00435.x (in English). Atkinson A. B., Micklewright J. Economic Transformation in Eastern Europe and the Distribution of Income. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. (in English). Bergson A. Income Inequality under Soviet Socialism. Journal of Economic Literature, 1984, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 1052–1099. (in English). Bokarev Yu. P. SSSR i stanovlenie postindustrialnogo obshchestva na Zapade. 1970–1980-e gody [The USSR and the Formation of Post-Industrial Society in the West, 1970–1980s]. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 2007. (in Russ.). Borodkin L. I. [Dynamics of urban population living standards in the years of the NEP: new estimates]. Rossiyskiye ekonomicheskiye reformy v regional’nom izmerenii [The Regional Dimension of the Russian Economic Reforms]. Novosibirsk: Parallel’ Publ., 2021, pp. 337–347. (in Russ.). Borodkin L. Wages and Wage Policy in the USSR (1950s–1980s): Macro- and Microanalysis. The XVIII World Economic History Congress. Boston; Cambridge (MA), July 26–August 3, 2018. Available at: http://wehc2018.org/wages-and-waves-of-globalisation-since-19301950-convergence-inequalities-strategies/ (accessed: 15.09.2021). (in English). Bourguignon F., Morrisson C. Inequality among world citizens: 1820–1992. American Economic Review, 2002, vol. 92, no. 4, ðð. 727–744. (in English). Deininger K., Squire L. A New Data Set Measuring Income Inequality. The World Bank Economic Review, 1996, vol. 10, no. 3, ðð. 565–591. (in English). Didenko D. V. Intellektualoyemkaya ekonomika: chelovecheskiy kapital v rossiyskom i mirovom sotsial’no-ekonomicheskom razvitii [Knowledge-intensive economy: human capital in Russian and global socio-economic development]. Saint Petersburg: Aletheyya Publ., 2015. (in Russ.). Didenko D., Földvári P., van Leeuwen B. The spread of human capital in the former Soviet Union area in a comparative perspective: Exploring a new dataset. Journal of Eurasian Studies, 2013, vol. 4, iss. 2, ðð. 123–135. DOI: 10.1016/j.euras.2013.03.002. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879366513000122. (in English). Galbraith J. K., Halbach B., Malinowska A., Shams A., Zhang W. The University of Texas Inequality Project Global Inequality Data Sets 1963–2008: Updates, Revisions and Quality Checks. Inequality and Growth: Patterns and Policy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, vol. 2, ðð. 98–130. Database: http://www.utip.lbj.utexas.edu/data/UtipUnidoEhiiV2017_v.1.xlsx (accessed: 15.09.2021) (in English). Gregory P. Ekonomicheskiy rost Rossiyskoy imperii (konets XIX — nachalo XX vv.): Novyye podschety I otsenki [Economic growth of Russian Empire (end of 19th — begining of 20th centuries): New estimates and calculations]. Moscow: ROSSPEN Publ., 2003. (in Russ.). Kapeliushnikov R. I. [Is economic inequality a universal evil?]. Voprosy ekonomiki [Questions of Economics], 2019, no. 4, pp. 91–106. DOI: 10.32609/0042-8736-2019-4-91-106. (in Russ.). Kapeliushnikov R. I. [Piketty’s team on inequality in Russia: a collection of statistical artifacts]. Voprosy ekonomiki [Questions of Economics], 2020, no. 4, pp. 67–106. DOI: 10.32609/0042-8736-2020-4-67-106 (in Russ.). Kapeliushnikov R. I. [Returns to education in Russia: nowhere below?]. Voprosy ekonomiki [Questions of Economics], 2021, no. 8, pp. 37–68. DOI: 10.32609/0042-8736-2021-8-37-68. (in Russ.). Kapelyuk S. D. [Wage inequality: how large is the contribution of the discrimination?]. Vestnik Sibirskogo universiteta potrebitel’skoy kooperatsii [Bulletin of the Siberian University of consumer cooperation], 2019, no. 1 (27), pp. 12–31. (in Russ.). Khanin G. I. [What was social differentiation in pre-revolutionary Russia?]. Idei i idealy [Ideas and ideals], 2010, vol. 1, no. 2 (4), pp. 64–72. (in Russ.). Khanin G. I. Ekonomicheskaya istoriya Rossii v noveysheye vremya [Economic history of Russia in modern times]. Novosibirsk: NGTU Publ., 2008, vol. 1. (in Russ.). Kokkinen A. On Finland’s Economic Growth and Convergence with Sweden and the EU15 in the 20th century. Helsinki: Statistics Finland, 2012. (in English). Lindert P. H., Nafziger S. Russian Inequality on the Eve of Revolution. The Journal of Economic History, 2014, vol. 74, no. 3, ðð. 767–798. DOI: 10.1017/S002205071400059X (in English). Mironov B. N. Rossiyskaya imperiya: ot traditsii k modernu [Russian Empire: from tradition to modernity]. Saint Petersburg: Dmitriy Bulanin Publ., 2018, vol. 1. (in Russ.). Morrisson C. Income distribution in East European and Western countries. Journal of Comparative Economics, 1984, vol. 8, iss. 2, ðð. 121–138. DOI: 10.1016/0147-5967(84)90002-7 (in English). Novokmet F., Piketty T., Zucman G. From Soviets to oligarchs: inequality and property in Russia 1905–2016. Journal of Economic Inequality, 2018, vol. 16, iss. 2, ðð. 189–223. DOI: 10.1007/s10888-018-9383-0 (in English). Piketty T. Kapital v XXI veke [Capital in the Twenty-First Century]. Moscow: Ad Marginem Publ., 2015. (in Russ.). Rimashevskaya N. M., Rimashevskiy A. A. Ravenstvo ili spravedlivost’? [Equality or Equity?]. Moscow: Finansy i statistika Publ., 1991. (in Russ.). Salmina A. A. [Comparative analysis of inequality indicators: characteristics and applications]. Obshchestvo i ekonomika [Society and Economy], 2019, no. 7, pp. 35–58. DOI: 10.31857/S020736760005832-4 (in Russ.). Shenfield S. A Note on Data Quality in the Soviet Family Budget Survey. Soviet Studies, 1983, vol. 35, no. 4, ðð. 561–568. (in English). van Leeuwen B. Human Capital and Economic Growth in India, Indonesia, and Japan: A quantitative analysis, 1890–2000. PhD Thesis. Utrecht University: Box Press Publishers, 2007. Available at: http://www.basvanleeuwen.net/bestanden/proefschrift/proefschriftbvl.pdf (accessed: 15.09.2021). (in English). van Zanden J. L., Baten J., Földvari P., van Leeuwen B. The Changing Shape of Global Inequality 1820–2000; Exploring a New Dataset. Review of Income and Wealth, 2014, vol. 60, iss. 2, ðð. 279–297. DOI: 10.1111/roiw.12014. (in English). |
||
| Download in PDF | |||
