Growth and/or development: specificity of the Russian economic model

Abstract

The article provides a systematic description of the main features of the post-Soviet economy. The methodology and categorical apparatus of classical political economy, classical institutionalism, as well as of other directions of heterodox economic theory are the basis for identifying the content, the structure and the peculiarities of Russian economy. The authors demonstrate the influence of climatic, spatial, and historical characteristics of Russia on the formation of these characteristic features. The main stages of the evolution of Russian economy are highlighted, as well as the particularities of their growth / decline as shown by macroeconomic quantitative indicators. Special attention is paid to qualitative indicators characterizing social results and contradictions in the development of the main sectors of the economy. On this basis, conclusions are formulated that reveal the reasons for the deep recession in the 1990s, extensive development in the 2000s and stagnation in the 2010s. The author comes to the conclusion that nonrandom the presence of two main concepts for the further development of Russia - a neoliberal concept and a concept focused on enhancing social regulation and social orientation of development (and not just economic growth) – is not accidental.