Russian Economy as a Pyramid of Wealth Enclaves: Political Economy Approach

Abstract

The article highlights the resource-industrial and institutional conditions causing the fragmentation of the economic space in Russia. In these conditions, the integration of the economy and society is ensured through the integrated political-administrative market of the centralized type. As a result, the functioning and development of the Russian economy are described as a complicated interweaving of the horizontal added value chains and the vertical chains of value redistribution. This created the pyramid of wealth enclaves in the Russian economy. The interaction between the actors controlling these enclaves occurs mainly on the political-administrative market, connected with the vertical redistribution of added value. The theoretical basis of the study is J. Stiglitz’s model of dual enclave economy and the modified tools of the concept of global value chains (GVC). The study operates such qualitative research methods as conceptualization and comprehensive analysis. The study revealed that in the Russian economy the economic market fragmentation situation is persistently present. The pyramid of wealth enclaves linked with the vertical chains of value redistribution does not create incentives for the integrated development of the national economy