RUSSIAN LIVING STANDARDS DURING THE INDUSTRIALIZATION ERA, 1885–1913*

Abstract

In this paper, I have examined the relative growth rates of personal consumption, government consumption, and national income in Russia from 1885–1913 and have contrasted them with the “European” model (derived from the U.K. and German experience). Two hypotheses of the conventional model of Russian industrialization were tested: the retarded growth of personal consumption and the accelerated growth of government consumption and investment (relative to the European model) and the growing Europeanization of Russian growth after 1906. The estimates of personal consumption and government consumption failed to sustain either hypothesis. In fact, the reverse hypotheses appear to be more plausible. The lack of data on investment prevented the testing of the investment hypothesis, but the limited evidence which is available does not point to an extraordinary growth of investment. As a final experiment, the combined growth rates of personal and government consumption were compared with a revision of Goldsmith's national income estimates. They were shown to provide strong support for the accuracy of the revision of Goldsmith's estimates.