DOI: 10.32609/j.ruje.9.108719

Authors: Yuheng Li, Haowen Jia, Wei Xiao, Alexey S. Naumov

Abstract: Improving people’s livelihood resilience against risks and challenges plays an important role in consolidating the achievements of poverty reduction. The paper uses 64 poverty-stricken counties in China’s Sichuan province as the study area and explores the link between spatial segregation and human capital. The results show that the proximity (spatial segregation) is significantly and negatively associated with people’s educational attainment and their acquisition of non-farming employment. Residents in villages which are distant from the county center tend to obtain less educational opportunities and are less likely to engage in non-farming jobs than those who are close to the county center. The mediating effect analysis indicates that remoteness mainly reduces the propensity of getting non-farming jobs by reducing the human capital of rural residents. Further analysis shows that the association between proximity, human capital and the probability of acquiring non-farming work is higher in areas with lower economic level and less developed transportation infrastructure. Policy implications for improving people’s livelihood resilience in impoverished areas are proposed in the paper.

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DOI: 10.32609/j.ruje.9.114387

Authors: Renata G. Yanbykh, Valery A. Saraikin, Olga S. Zvyagintseva

Abstract: One of the key elements of well-being of rural residents is the development of rural social infrastructure. Measures for the development of rural areas often do not take into account the opinion of rural residents themselves, which leads to their dissatisfaction. The level of cohesion and collectivism of the rural community plays an important role in identifying problems and finding solutions, including the use of common resources of the territory. This article makes an attempt to apply Elinor Ostrom’s theoretical considerations to the investigation of rural communities in Russia. The experimental part of the study was carried out in small settlements of Stavropol Krai and Krasnodar Krai in South Russia. The hypothesis about the possibility of forming self-governing rural communities, independent in determining the rules for the use of common resources and participating in the implementation of development policies for their territory, was tested. The surveyed residents very rationally selected directions for the social and everyday development of their settlements that allow them to obtain maximum benefit from their implementation. Continuing such research will make it possible to clarify true preferences of rural residents regarding social standards and make timely adjustments to the state policy of rural development.

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DOI: 10.32609/j.ruje.9.112910

Authors: Alexey N. Bobryshev, Andrey N. Baydakov, Olga S. Zvyagintseva, Sergey I. Lugovskoy

Abstract: The article classifies rural territorial entities using the systems approach, which is based on identifying their key subsystems—natural, social, and economic. The study aims to develop and implement a procedure for creating a multi-aspect assessment range of rural development levels relying on the combined use of multivariate statistical analysis and the computational and expert comparison of objective and subjective structured information. The grouping of rural territorial entities carried out on this basis is intended to identify a pattern representing their targeted development, taking into account both the existing social and economic situation in the territory and its perception by the population. Methodological approaches to classify territorial rural units according to their level of rural development usually lack a systemic perspective and a subjective dimension to include the rural inhabitant perspectives. Using only expert opinions does not allow it to be reflected adequately enough. The comparison between the objective and subjective assessments of the natural, social, and economic conditions of rural territorial entities serves as the basis for identifying three groups of development patterns. Results were obtained through the combined application methods—cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling. The first one was used for an objective ranking of municipal districts in the region using official statistical data, while the second method was used for structuring the rural survey results. The main study result is the procedure for the multi-aspect grouping of rural areas, which enables the objective and subjective assessment of their key subsystems—economic, social, and natural—to be integrated into a single assessment tool. Its application helps establish a range of general patterns representing rural development. The study results can be used in the creation and updating of object- and subject-differentiated programs for the development of rural territorial entities.

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DOI: 10.32609/j.ruje.9.112818

Authors: Tatiana G. Nefedova, Andrey I. Treivish

Abstract: This article delves into the proliferation of dacha as a second / temporary country residence for urbanites in Russia. The phenomenon is viewed from a socio-cultural and economic perspective, uncovering the reasons behind their popularity among Russian city dwellers­. These reasons are related to the geographical, historical, and economic features of the nation as well as to the evolution of rural areas and agriculture across various zones. The article analyzes the diversity of second homes, their types, quantities as well as ­preferences and activities of dacha dwellers (dachniks), their socio-economic composition­ and the challenges they face, contingent on the geographic location of these estates and the demand for them among specific urban groups. It is found that the interaction ­between dachniks who come from urban centers, local communities, and rural economies, as well as the distinctive facets of dacha life, vary markedly depending on the natural and socio-economic conditions, which are largely shaped by the remoteness of a place from cities. Special emphasis is put on the distribution and distinctiveness of dachas in the Non-Black Earth zone regions of central Russia, where their prevalence and significance are especially pronounced.

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DOI: 10.32609/j.ruje.9.116841

Authors: Alexey S. Naumov

Abstract: N.a.

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DOI: 10.32609/j.ruje.8.86617

Authors: Evgeny Y. Vinokurov, Arman Ahunbaev, Alexander I. Zaboev

Abstract: The Russian economy will have to adjust its logistics to face the new reality. The operationali­zation of the multimodal International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is an important strategic part of it. This “pivot to the South” by Russia and other Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries is of particular significance in light of the required reconfiguration of supply chains in Eurasia. Russian exporters, importers and freight forwarding companies’ needs in alternative logistical opportunities have increased dramatically. The INSTC development would promote Eurasian intra- and transcontinental connectivity, reduce export costs, develop new production niches, and realize the Caspian region’s transit potential. This study estimates that the aggregate potential INSTC freight traffic via all the routes and modes of transport, including containerized and non-containerized cargoes, will reach 15–25 million­ tonnes by 2030. The container traffic could rise 20x and this will require investments in hard infrastructure and also soft infrastructure improvement. The corridor will contribute to the evolving outline of the trans-Eurasian transport backbone and bring significant benefits for the economies of Russia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Middle East, and South Asia.

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DOI: 10.32609/j.ruje.7.51709

Authors: Sofya A. Salomatina, Vladislav Y. Ivakin

Abstract: This paper studies the influence of the service sector (joint-stock commercial banks and railways) on the economic development of agricultural regions within the Russian empire in the second half of the 19th century, using the case of the Central Black Earth region. The study compares yield data for major crops, railroad transportation of grain and flour, and the banking services to agriculture producers and traders. Statistical analysis of this data disproves the prevailing historical economic viewpoint which claims that agricultural exports were not accompanied by bank support, because it did not take into account a rather high level of infrastructure around the Riga–Oryol railway trunk, which was formed back in the 1870s. The exports in this region consisted of the prior year’s harvest, which indicated a rather developed system of crop storage and accompanying banking services. The study reveals a dramatic growth in the services sector throughout the Central Black Earth region during the 1890s. In previous decades, this system could not be extended to the entire region due to a long history of unfavorable conditions in the agricultural and banking sectors. Thus, banking services in Russia at the end of the 19th century were provided to not just industrial and stock markets customers. In those regions dominated by agriculture, services infrastructure had been oriented towards this sector.

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DOI: 10.32609/j.ruje.7.56600

Authors: Carol S. Leonard, Zafar Nazarov, Leonid I. Borodkin, Maria A. Karpenko, Roman B. Konchakov

Abstract: This paper shows that railroad building in Russia, as in Europe and the US in the nineteenth century, improved the value of land, a classic benefit of transportation investment in largely agrarian countries. From a database constructed for this paper, we use cross-sectional data for the fifty European Russian regions to show the association of the length of the railroad (measured in 1894), land prices (measured in 1900) and annual growth of land prices (in rubles) for 1885–1910.

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DOI: 10.32609/j.ruje.5.38704

Authors: Michael Baltensperger, Uri Dadush

Abstract: China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an international trade and development strategy. Launched in 2013, it is one of the ways that China asserts its role in world affairs and captures the opportunities of globalization. The BRI has the potential to enhance development prospects across the world and in China, but that potential might not be realized because the BRI’s objectives are too broad and ill-defined, and its execution is too often non-transparent, lacking in due diligence and uncoordinated. This article documents the background and context of the BRI, recounts what is known about the extent of the initiative and specifies its various motivations. It highlights that the initiative meets very large infrastructure investments gaps, which is welcome and needed, and that China’s goal of forging stronger links with its trading partners around the world are legitimate, so long, of course, as the underlying intent remains peaceful. Though many observers welcome the BRI, many others oppose it for good reasons, while others misunderstand it and oppose it for bad reasons. The paper identifies and discusses concerns about the initiative that relate to its geopolitical objectives, its priorities, its geographic scope, the role of state-owned enterprises, the allocation of resources, issues of transparency and of due diligence. Particularly, it shows that this initiative deals with a vast number of countries that are in very different states of development and that an apparent lack of well-defined priorities is holding the initiative back. The paper also highlights the issue of debt overload which is distressing several BRI countries and discourages further projects. It points briefly to possible improvements that China and the other stakeholders in the BRI can make to get the most out of their investments. The BRI, to be effective, needs to meet the basic conditions of a trade and development strategy, which are clear objectives, adequate resources, selectivity, a workable implementation plan, due diligence and clear communication. Involvement of multilateral lenders could help with this. Finally, China has to improve the evaluation of project’s risks and costs and step up its due diligence approach to demonstrate that it respects the long-term interests of those countries that are at the receiving end of its BRI projects.

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DOI: 10.1016/j.ruje.2017.09.003

Authors: Nadezhda Kosareva, Tatyana Polidi

Abstract: The article presents a new methodology for estimating gross urban product (the gross domestic product by city or metropolitan level) in Russia under extremely low statistical data availability about economy performance at the local level. These estimates provide new analytical instruments for assessing disparities in economic development between more than 1,000 Russian cities and other areas, and cities’ contributions to GDP as well as for comparing indicators of Russian cities with those of foreign countries.

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