О ПРИЧИНАХ ОТСТАВАНИЯ УРАЛЬСКОЙ МЕТАЛЛУРГИИ В ПОРЕФОРМЕННЫЙ ПЕРИОД

Abstract

The article considers the reasons for Russia’s lagging behind in the process of the Great Divergence. In this regard, an important role is played by the analysis of the factors that caused the slow development of heavy industry in 1860–1875, during the period of intensive railways construction. In all Western countries, the construction of railways gave a powerful impetus to the development of heavy industry, but this did not happen in Russia. Among the reasons for this phenomenon, they usually point to the limited forest resources that could be used by the metallurgy of the Urals, difficulties in transporting products, and the impossibility of competing with cheap English metal under duty-free imports. The author demonstrates that these reasons were not the main ones. As the progress of the Ural metallurgy at the end of the 19th century showed, there were enough forest resources provided they were used economically. Upon closer examination, it turns out that, despite the difficulties of delivery and the relatively high price, the Ural rails made of high-quality metal were more profitable to operate than the English ones. The reason why the Ural factories received few orders lay outside the market economy; this reason was the distortion of the concession system by corrupt influences. The concessionaires, taking advantage of the lack of control, overestimated the cost of the railroad, then built it using cheap English rails, and credited the savings to their income.