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The slow road from serfdom: Labor coercion and long-run development in the former Russian Empire

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  • Buggle, Johannes C.
  • Nafziger, Steven

Abstract

This paper examines the long-run economic consequences of Russian serfdom. Employing data on the intensity of labor coercion at the district level in just prior to emancipation in 1861, we document that a greater legacy of serfdom is associated with lower economic well-being today. Our estimates imply that increasing historical serfdom by 25 percentage points reduces household expenditure today by up to 17%. The analysis of different types of labor coercion reveals substantial heterogeneity in the long-run effects of serfdom. Furthermore, we document persistence of economic development measured by city populations over the period 1800 - 2002 in cross-sectional regressions and panel estimations. Exploring mechanisms, our results suggest that the effect of serfdom on urbanization in Imperial Russia was perpetuated in the Soviet period, with negative implications for structural change, the spatial distribution and productivity of firms, and human capital investment.

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  • Buggle, Johannes C. & Nafziger, Steven, 2018. "The slow road from serfdom: Labor coercion and long-run development in the former Russian Empire," BOFIT Discussion Papers 22/2018, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:bofitp:bdp2018_022
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    6. Asmus, Gerda & Franck, Raphaël, 2022. "State Capacity, National Economic Policies and Local Development: The Russian State in the Southern Urals," CEPR Discussion Papers 17103, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Matthias Morys, 2022. "Has Eastern Europe Always Lagged Behind the West? Historical Evidence from Pre‐1870," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(S1), pages 3-21, April.
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    11. Hup, Mark, 2024. "Labor coercion, fiscal modernization, and state capacity: Evidence from colonial Indonesia," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    12. Broadberry, Stephen & Korchmina, Elena, 2024. "Catching-Up and Falling Behind: Russian Economic Growth, 1690s–1880s," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 84(4), pages 997-1028, December.
    13. Timur Natkhov & Natalia Vasilenok, 2023. "Ethnic‐specific infant care practices and infant mortality in late Imperial Russia," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(3), pages 783-806, August.
    14. Sezer, Ayse Hazal, 2023. "Convicts and Comrades : Coerced Labor’s Impact on Early Labor Unions," Other publications TiSEM 98f91e6a-8e47-4c1f-bc84-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    15. Didenko, Dmitry, 2023. "How demographic shocks affected the productionfactor income and the institutional path of the Russian pre-industrial economy," Russian Peasant Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 8, pages 6-20.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N54 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - Europe: 1913-
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth

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