Wages and Labor Productivity in Russia: Regional Aspect

Abstract

The presented study examines the statistics of labor productivity and wages in the Russian Federation.Aim. The study aims to analyze trends in the changes of labor productivity and wages in Russia in the territorial and temporal aspects.Tasks. This study examines and compares the dynamics of wages and labor productivity in Russia, identifying the specific regional features of their fluctuation.Methods. The authors conduct a statistical research of the current situation in Russia as well as a dynamic, correlation, and structural analysis based on the data of the Federal State Statistics Service, and formulate economic assessments of the results from the perspective of the systems approach.Results. The study substantiates that it is inadvisable to traditionally exclude anomalous data in the statistical research of economic systems as this leads to unacceptable changes in the structures of the latter. The authors propose comparing these systems by enlarged structural elements. Some common Russian trends in the changes of labor productivity and wage levels in time and space are analyzed and specified by federal districts and constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Consistent patterns in the dynamics of annual frequency distributions and variations of these indicators by regions, districts, and republics of the Russian Federation are described, and the leading and underperforming regions are identified.Conclusions. Over the examined time period, labor productivity in Russia grew with slight fluctuations, while average wages only increased during economically favorable periods (in constant prices). The overall situation in the country is slowly improving and remains relatively stable in the regional aspect, but not the best. It would be advisable to implement economic mechanisms aimed at improving the self-sufficiency of the country and its regions. The authors believe the current methodology of the Federal Statistics Service to be applicable to the measurement of performance of industrial regions and — to a lesser extent — agricultural regions.