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Poverty in Russia during the Transition: An Overview

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  • 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.

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  • 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
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    1. Commander, Simon & Yemtsov, Ruslan, 1995. "Russian unemployment : its magnitude, characteristics, and regional dimensions," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1426, The World Bank.
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    3. Ravallion, M., 1992. "Poverty Comparisons - A Guide to Concepts and Methods," Papers 88, World Bank - Living Standards Measurement.
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    6. Easterly, William & Fischer, Stanley, 1995. "The Soviet Economic Decline," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 9(3), pages 341-371, September.
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    1. Víctor Manuel Isidro Luna, 2013. "Pobreza en el capitalismo ¿Por qué persiste en la actualidad?," Revista Ecos de Economía, Universidad EAFIT, December.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. 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.
    15. 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.
    16. 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.
    17. 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.
    18. 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.

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