IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/wp-2010-059.html

Twenty Years Later and the Socialist Heritage is still Kicking: The Case of Russia

Author

Listed:
  • Gur Ofer

Abstract

Only recently, 20 years after transition to a market system, has Russia regained a similar production level it had achieved on the eve of transition in 1991. This may sound surprising, given its low productivity under central planning which dropped even lower during the last decades, and the rather high level of human capital inherited from the old regime, considered by many as the main engine of growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Gur Ofer, 2010. "Twenty Years Later and the Socialist Heritage is still Kicking: The Case of Russia," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2010-059, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2010-059
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/wp2010-59.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Irina Denisova & Markus Eller & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2010. "What do Russians think about transition?1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 18(2), pages 249-280, April.
    2. André Sapir & Philippe Aghion & Mathias Dewatripont & Caroline Hoxby & Andreu Mas-Colell, 2007. "Why reform Europe's universities," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/8100, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    3. Gur Ofer, 2005. "Abram Bergson: The Life of a Comparativist1,2," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 47(2), pages 240-258, June.
    4. Sergei Guriev & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2009. "(Un)happiness in Transition," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(2), pages 143-168, Spring.
    5. Philippe Aghion & Peter Howitt, 2009. "The Economics of Growth," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262012634, December.
    6. Vladimir Popov, 2000. "Shock Therapy Versus Gradualism: The End Of The Debate (Explaining The Magnitude Of Transformational Recession)," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 42(1), pages 1-57, April.
    7. Peter C. B. Phillips & Donggyu Sul, 2009. "Economic transition and growth," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(7), pages 1153-1185.
    8. Ofer, Gur, 1987. "Soviet Economic Growth: 1928-1985," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 25(4), pages 1767-1833, December.
    9. North, Douglass C. & Wallis, John Joseph & Webb, Steven B. & Weingast, Barry R., 2007. "Limited access orders in the developing world :a new approach to the problems of development," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4359, The World Bank.
    10. World Bank, 2002. "Constructing Knowledge Societies : New Challenges for Tertiary Education," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15224, April.
    11. Vladimir Popov, 2009. "Lessons from the Transition Economies: Putting the Success Stories of the Postcommunist World into a Broader Perspective," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2009-15, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Daron Acemoglu & Philippe Aghion & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2006. "Distance to Frontier, Selection, and Economic Growth," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 4(1), pages 37-74, March.
    13. Philippe Aghion & Diego Comin & Peter Howitt & Isabel Tecu, 2016. "When Does Domestic Savings Matter for Economic Growth?," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 64(3), pages 381-407, August.
    14. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/7fst0pcf5j8cr99e1nuobt97rn is not listed on IDEAS
    15. John M. Litwack, 1991. "Legality and Market Reform in Soviet-Type Economies," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(4), pages 77-89, Fall.
    16. Polterovich, Victor & Popov, Vladimir & Tonis, Alexander, 2008. "Mechanisms of Resource Curse, Economic Policy and Growth," MPRA Paper 20570, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Aziz Atamanov & Alexander Chubrik & Irina Denisova & Vladimir Dubrovskiy & Marina Kartseva & Irina Lukashova & Irina Makenbaeva & Magdalena Rokicka & Irina Sinitsina & Michael Tokmazishvili, 2008. "The Development Gap Between the CIS and EU," CASE Network Reports 0081, CASE-Center for Social and Economic Research.
    18. Douglass C. North & John Joseph Wallis & Barry R. Weingast, 2006. "A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History," NBER Working Papers 12795, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Anders Aslund & Kuchins, Andrew, 2009. "Russia Balance Sheet, The," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 4242, April.
    20. -, 2009. "Economic growth in the Caribbean," Sede Subregional de la CEPAL para el Caribe (Estudios e Investigaciones) 38668, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    21. Mukesh Chawla & Gordon Betcherman & Arup Banerji, 2007. "From Red to Gray : The "Third Transition" of Aging Populations in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6741, April.
    22. Gérard Roland, 2004. "Transition and Economics: Politics, Markets, and Firms," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026268148x, December.
    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. Becker, Torbjörn, 2019. "Russia’s economy and regional spillovers," SITE Working Paper Series 48, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics.

    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. Ofer, Gur, 2010. "Twenty Years Later and the Socialist Heritage is still Kicking: the Case of Russia," WIDER Working Paper Series 059, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Magnus Henrekson & Dan Johansson & Johan Karlsson, 2024. "To Be or Not to Be: The Entrepreneur in Neo-Schumpeterian Growth Theory," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 48(1), pages 104-140, January.
    3. Das, Gouranga G. & Drine, Imed, 2020. "Distance from the technology frontier: How could Africa catch-up via socio-institutional factors and human capital?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    4. Kumar, Sanjesh & Singh, Baljeet, 2019. "Barriers to the international diffusion of technological innovations," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 74-86.
    5. Alessandra Cepparulo & Gilles Mourre, 2020. "How and How Much? The Growth-Friendliness of Public Spending through the Lens," European Economy - Discussion Papers 132, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    6. Blagov, Boris & Funke, Michael, 2019. "The Regime-Dependent Evolution Of Credibility: A Fresh Look At Hong Kong'S Linked Exchange Rate System," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(6), pages 2434-2468, September.
    7. Sulekha Hembram & Souparna Maji & Sushil Kr. Haldar, 2019. "Club Convergence among the Major Indian States During 1982–2014: Does Investment in Human Capital Matter?," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 20(2), pages 184-204, September.
    8. Tobias Schlegel & Curdin Pfister & Dietmar Harhoff & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2022. "Innovation effects of universities of applied sciences: an assessment of regional heterogeneity," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 63-118, February.
    9. Bessonova, Evguenia & Gonchar, Ksenia, 2019. "How the innovation-competition link is shaped by technology distance in a high-barrier catch-up economy," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 86, pages 15-32.
    10. Noritsugu Nakanishi & Ngo Van Long, 2020. "A new impetus for endogenous growth: R&D offshoring via virtual labor mobility," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 846-883, August.
    11. Alireza Motameni, 2021. "The Impact of Oil Rent, Currency Overvaluation, and Institution Quality, on Economic Growth of Oil-Rich Countries: A Heterogeneous Panel Data Study," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(3), pages 483-493.
    12. Rafael Torres Gaviria, 2022. "Horsemen of the apocalypse: The Mongol Empire and the great divergence," Documentos CEDE 20533, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    13. Gebs, Mehdi & Nabi, Mahmoud Sami, 2021. "The economic impacts of digitalization through an extended input-output model: theory and application to Tunisia," MPRA Paper 113299, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Leonardo A. Rocha & Maria Ester S. Dal Poz & Patrícia V.P.S. Lima & Ahmad S. Khan & Napiê G. A. Silva, 2019. "Corruption, bureaucracy and other institutional failures: the “cancer†of innovation and development," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 39(3), pages 1740-1754.
    15. repec:pst:wpaper:320 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Philippe Aghion & Antonin Bergeaud & Gilbert Cette & Rémy Lecat & Hélène Maghin, 2019. "Coase Lecture ‐ The Inverted‐U Relationship Between Credit Access and Productivity Growth," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 86(341), pages 1-31, January.
    17. Ghosh Saibal, 2017. "Political Federalism and Innovation: Are de jure Labor Regulations Absolute?," Asian Journal of Law and Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 8(3), pages 1-15, December.
    18. Philippe Aghion & Antonin Bergeaud & Matthieu Lequien & Marc J. Melitz, 2024. "The Heterogeneous Impact of Market Size on Innovation: Evidence from French Firm-Level Exports," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 106(3), pages 608-626, May.
    19. Angelopoulos, Angelos & Economides, George & Liontos, George & Philippopoulos, Apostolis & Sakkas, Stelios, 2022. "Public redistributive policies in general equilibrium: An application to Greece," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 26(C).
    20. Jayasooriya, Sujith, 2020. "Revised Macro-Mincer Model for Human Capital Investment in Economic Growth," MPRA Paper 100747, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Yan, Zheming & Du, Keru & Yang, Zhiming & Deng, Min, 2017. "Convergence or divergence? Understanding the global development trend of low-carbon technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 499-509.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:unu:wpaper:wp-2010-059. 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: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.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.