IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/wbrobs/v13y1998i1p37-58.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Poverty in Russia during the Transition: An Overview

Author

Listed:
  • Klugman, Jeni
  • Braithwaite, Jeanine

Abstract

It is no surprise that the breakup of the Soviet Union and the overall demise of the planned economy has had a profound effect on the welfare of the Russian people. But the absence of reliable survey data has constrained our understanding of the impact that transition has had on the distribution of income. This article draws upon several rounds of a nationally representative household survey to document the sharp increases in the incidence and severity of poverty that have occurred during the transition. We investigate the routes by which macroeconomic and structural developments have been transmitted through the labor market and examine the performance of an increasingly overburdened, unfocused, and inadequate system of social protection. There is no evidence to suggest that the poor have shared in Russia's emerging economic recovery, and the emergence of a core group of long-term poor appears to be a distinct possibility. Copyright 1998 by Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Klugman, Jeni & Braithwaite, Jeanine, 1998. "Poverty in Russia during the Transition: An Overview," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 13(1), pages 37-58, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:wbrobs:v:13:y:1998:i:1:p:37-58
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.worldbank.org/research/journals/wbro/obsfeb98/pdf/article3.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Commander, Simon & Yemtsov, Ruslan, 1995. "Russian unemployment : its magnitude, characteristics, and regional dimensions," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1426, The World Bank.
    2. Evgeny Gavrilenkov & Mr. Vincent Koen, 1994. "How Large Was the the Output Collapse in Russia? Alternative Estimates and Welfare Implications," IMF Working Papers 1994/154, International Monetary Fund.
    3. Ravallion, M., 1992. "Poverty Comparisons - A Guide to Concepts and Methods," Papers 88, World Bank - Living Standards Measurement.
    4. Atkinson,Anthony Barnes & Micklewright,John, 1992. "Economic Transformation in Eastern Europe and the Distribution of Income," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521433297.
    5. Milanovic, Branko, 1995. "Poverty, inequality, and social policy in transition economies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1530, The World Bank.
    6. Easterly, William & Fischer, Stanley, 1995. "The Soviet Economic Decline," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 9(3), pages 341-371, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Víctor Manuel Isidro Luna, 2013. "Pobreza en el capitalismo ¿Por qué persiste en la actualidad?," Revista Ecos de Economía, Universidad EAFIT, December.
    2. Kseniya Abanokova & Hai-Anh H. Dang, 2023. "Poverty in Russia: a bird’s-eye view of trends and dynamics in the past quarter of a century," Chapters, in: Jacques Silber (ed.), Research Handbook on Measuring Poverty and Deprivation, chapter 58, pages 627-635, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Ekaterina Kalugina & Boris Najman, 2003. "Travail et pauvreté en Russie : évaluations objectives et perceptions subjectives," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 367(1), pages 83-100.
    4. Kishor C. Samal, 2005. "Transformation of Enterprises in Russia1," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 14(1), pages 21-37, March.
    5. Katherine Keenan & Lyudmila Saburova & Natalia Bobrova & Diana Elbourne & Sarah Ashwin & David A Leon, 2015. "Social Factors Influencing Russian Male Alcohol Use over the Life Course: A Qualitative Study Investigating Age Based Social Norms, Masculinity, and Workplace Context," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(11), pages 1-15, November.
    6. Bisogno, Marcelo & Chong, Alberto, 2002. "Poverty and Inequality in Bosnia and Herzegovina After the Civil War," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 61-75, January.
    7. Geishecker, Ingo & Haisken-DeNew, John P., 2004. "Landing on all fours? Communist elites in post-Soviet Russia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 700-719, December.
    8. Stanislav Kolenikov & Anthony Shorrocks, 2005. "A Decomposition Analysis of Regional Poverty in Russia," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(1), pages 25-46, February.
    9. Kseniya Abanokova & Hai‐Anh H. Dang & Michael Lokshin, 2022. "Do Adjustments for Equivalence Scales Affect Poverty Dynamics? Evidence from the Russian Federation during 1994–2017," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(S1), pages 167-192, April.
    10. Grootaert, Christiaan & Braithwaite, Jeanine, 1998. "Poverty correlates and indicator-based targeting in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1942, The World Bank.
    11. Graham, Carol & Eggers, Andrew & Sukhtankar, Sandip, 2004. "Does happiness pay?: An exploration based on panel data from Russia," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 319-342, November.
    12. Anatoly Vinokur & Joana Godinho & Christopher Dye & Nico Nagelkerke, 2001. "The TB and HIV/AIDS Epidemics in the Russian Federation," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13965, December.
    13. Paul Mosley & Daniela Olejarova & Elena Alexeeva, 2004. "Microfinance, social capital formation and political development in Russia and eastern Europe: a pilot study of programmes in Russia, Slovakia and Romania," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 407-427.
    14. Jean O. Lanjouw & Peter Lanjouw & Branko Milanovic & Stefano Paternostro, 2004. "Relative price shifts, economies of scale and poverty during economic transition," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 12(3), pages 509-536, September.
    15. Lanjouw, Peter & Milanovic, Branko & Paternostro, Stefano, 1998. "Poverty and the economic transition : how do changes in economies of scale affect poverty rates for different households?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2009, The World Bank.
    16. Matthieu Clément, 2004. "Dynamiques de pauvreté en Russie : une analyse en termes d'entrées et sorties à l'aide des modèles de durée," Documents de travail 106, Groupe d'Economie du Développement de l'Université Montesquieu Bordeaux IV.
    17. Björn Gustafsson & Ludmila Nivorozhkina, 2004. "Changes in Russian poverty during transition as assessed from microdata from the city of Taganrog," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 12(4), pages 747-776, December.
    18. Jensen, Robert T. & Richter, Kaspar, 2004. "The health implications of social security failure: evidence from the Russian pension crisis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1-2), pages 209-236, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Facundo Alvaredo & Leonardo Gasparini, 2013. "Recent Trends in Inequality and Poverty in Developing Countries," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0151, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    2. Dirk Bezemer & Uwe Dulleck & Paul Frijters, 2003. "Socialism, Capitalism, and Transition-Coordination of Economic Relations and Output Performance," Vienna Economics Papers 0305, University of Vienna, Department of Economics.
    3. Paweł Bukowski & Filip Novokmet, 2021. "Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892–2015," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 187-239, June.
    4. Giovanni Andrea Cornia & Tony Addison & Sampsa Kiiski, 2003. "Income Distribution Changes and their Impact in the Post-World War II Period," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2003-28, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Andorka, Rudolf & Tóth, István György & Ferge, Zsuzsa, 1997. "Valóban Magyarországon a legkisebbek az egyenlőtlenségek? [Is it indeed Hungary where income inequalities are the smallest?]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(2), pages 89-112.
    6. Bukowski, Pawel & Novokmet, Filip, 2021. "Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892–2015," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 110221, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Ravallion, Martin & Chen, Shaohua, 1997. "What Can New Survey Data Tell Us about Recent Changes in Distribution and Poverty?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 11(2), pages 357-382, May.
    8. Pasquale Tridico, 2010. "Growth, Inequality and Poverty in Emerging and Transition Economies," Transition Studies Review, Springer;Central Eastern European University Network (CEEUN), vol. 16(4), pages 979-1001, February.
    9. Rutkowski, Michael, 1995. "Workers in transition," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1556, The World Bank.
    10. F. le R. Booysen, 2001. "Non‐Payment Of Services: A Problem Of Ability‐To‐Pay," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 69(4), pages 674-697, December.
    11. Bruno, Michael & Ravallion, Martin & Squire, Lyn, 1996. "Equity and growth in developing countries : old and new perspectives on the policy issues," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1563, The World Bank.
    12. Juan Luis Londoño & Miguel Székely, 2000. "Persistent Poverty and Excess Inequality: Latin America, 1970-1995," Journal of Applied Economics, Universidad del CEMA, vol. 3, pages 93-134, May.
    13. Alberto Chilosi, 2014. "The Economic System as an End or as a Means, and the Future of Socialism: An Evolutionary Viewpoint," Palgrave Studies in the History of Economic Thought, in: Riccardo Bellofiore & Ewa Karwowski & Jan Toporowski (ed.), Economic Crisis and Political Economy, chapter 1, pages 10-28, Palgrave Macmillan.
    14. Iga Magda & Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska, 2019. "Gender wage gap in the workplace: Does the age of the firm matter?," IBS Working Papers 01/2019, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    15. Vladimir Popov, 2009. "Why the West Became Rich before China and Why China Has Been Catching Up with the West since 1949: nother Explanation of the “Great Divergence” and “Great Convergence” Stories," Working Papers w0132, New Economic School (NES).
    16. Boeri, Tito, 1997. "Learning from Transition Economies: Assessing Labor Market Policies across Central and Eastern Europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 366-384, December.
    17. Isaac B. Oluwatayo, 2004. "Income Risk and Welfare Status of Rural Households in Nigeria: Ekiti State as a Test Case," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2004-61, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    18. Dimitris Mavridis & Pálma Mosberger, 2017. "Income Inequality and Incentives. The Quasi-Natural Experiment of Hungary 1914-2008," Working Papers halshs-02797438, HAL.
    19. Daniela Andrén & Thomas Andrén, 2015. "Gender and occupational wage gaps in Romania: from planned equality to market inequality?," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-27, December.
    20. Marion Mercier & Rama Lionel Ngenzebuke & Philip Verwimp, 2016. "Violence exposure and welfare over time: Evidence from the Burundi civil war," HiCN Working Papers 198 updated, Households in Conflict Network.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oup:wbrobs:v:13:y:1998:i:1:p:37-58. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/wrldbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.