Russian Households Research Articles

Private Label as a global trend of food networks for pricing policy optimization (case study of St. Petersburg)

The practice of creating Private Label by large food chains is a global trend. Such international and Russian retailers as Auchan, SPAR, Prisma, Okay, Lenta, etc. have these products of their own brand. However, this marketing policy is not used by all the players in this market. In the conditions of a protracted economic recession that began in Russia in 2014, even such a seemingly stable sector of the economy as grocery retail faced a decline in its trade. The main reason for the current situation is, of course, a significant, more than 15% in 5 years, fall in real disposable incomes of Russian households. At the same time, for certain groups of households (families with children, single pensioners, etc.), the poverty is still much higher. In such households, expenses for food take significantly more than half of their incomes. The heightened competition of retail chains for a shrinking budget of buyers pushes them to search for new models of pricing policy. This article explores the possibility of using the practice Private Label by food chains.

Private Housing for the Russian Households: Motivations and Constraints

Private Housing for the Russian Households: Motivations and Constraints

Investment of Russian households in the human capital of children: An intergenerational analysis

Investment of Russian households in the human capital of children: An intergenerational analysis

Using alternative energy sources by Russian households

Using alternative energy sources by Russian households

Corporate social responsibility, coexistence and contestation: large farms’ changing responsibilities vis-à-vis rural households in Russia

ABSTRACTThis article investigates the regionally varied changes in social support and responsibilities of large-scale farms vis-à-vis household plot holders and their rural communities in post-Soviet Russia. Ongoing marketisation puts pressure on the Soviet-inherited symbiosis between large farms and household plots. We observe that large farms’ shift to Anglophone-style, explicit Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) hides declining support for villagers and sometimes even dispossession. In the second of our two case studies, a less well-endowed region, the inherited symbiosis continues with modifications (“implicit CSR”) and helps sustain comparatively higher household plot production.

Role of Advertising Expenditure as an Influential Non-traditional Regressor in Russia’s Money Demand Specification

The term advertising refers to the strategy that affects consumer behaviour and induces higher household final consumption expenditure (HFCE), which is associated with incredibly demanding for money upon transaction usages and a reduction in search costs. The model of money demand that is stable, reliable and well defined is crucial for central banks in formulating their monetary policy to minimise the gap between the supply and demand of money. Hence, this paper examines the influence of expenditure in advertising (ADEX) towards the level of demand for money among the households in Russia. An approach known as Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) is opted to model the money demand function (MDF) of Russia and nine years of quarterly data from 2008 to 2016 have been used in the estimation. Empirical findings reveal that ADEX not only positively influences the Russian’s money demand in long term, its MDF also becomes more superior when the ADEX has been added. As such, this study suggests that ADEX can be taken into account as a non-traditional explanatory variable in the formulation of a stable and well-specified MDF for the case in Russia.

О лексико-семантической группе названий домашних животных в языке калмыцких законодательных памятников (XVII-XIX вв. )

Introduction. The article examines names of livestock species traced in 17th–19th-century legislative monuments of the Kalmyks. The texts describe not only animals as such but also physiological conditions of theirs, such as age and sex. Names of livestock species are to be found within lexical clusters dealing with penalties (mulcts) for different crimes and misdeeds, including ones where animals acts as targets of crime. Topicality of the research is determined by the absence of studies dealing with vocabulary of such interesting informative historical documents as codes of laws used by Kalmyks for centuries. Goal and objectives of the research is to discover and describe names of domestic animals in texts of legal codes. Materials of the research are based on legal documents used by Kalmyks in the 17th to 19th centuries. Findings. The paper reveals names of domestic animals described in Kalmyk legal documents, defines a quantitative ratio of the usage of names of domestic animals. It shows that according to the Mongolian legal system the gradation of fines (penalties) had depended not only on gravity of offence but also on the social position of the defendant and also on his/her material wealth. The given statements reflect not only criminal, civil, military and religious rights of Kalmyks but also the economy of the society during that period; it is possible to trace the dynamics of the society’s economic conditions if legal codes from different periods be compared. mentions penalties at the rate of hundreds and even thousands livestock units, and the 18th-century Spiritual and Civil Laws mention not numbers but just age of livestock to be paid since the penalty was equal to one livestock unit only. Conclusion. The vocabulary of domestic animals from the legal codes illustrates that Kalmyks bred four types of the livestock, namely: camels, horses, cattle, and sheep. The fragments describing sizes of fines reveal gradual reduction of the livestock in Kalmyk households in Russia. The texts of the legal codes from different periods show that the court practice maintained the tradition to punish offenders with the cattle fine and not with imprisonment. The latter was perceived most painfully by Kalmyks who were not used to being deprived of physical freedom

Building an integrated poverty measure by three poverty profiles

On the basis of estimating three poverty profiles calculated on sample surveys data, the article presents the methods for obtaining an integrated poverty measure, which solves the model of latent structural analysis with binary classes. In such surveys as Parents and Children, Men and Women in Family, HSE Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, Russian Household Budget Survey, there are questions characterizing different profiles of poverty — economic, deprivation and subjective. The last-mentioned profile presents a subjective perception of one’s position on the scale of living standards. Estimates by the three profiles measure different sides of poverty, but it is not clear how they are harmonized, and whether latent poverty is statistically reflected in them. The model of the latent structural analysis may give a positive or negative answer to this question. In case of the positive answer it is proposed to take the probability of latent poverty as an integrated poverty measure. The article provides the results of calculations for three groups of households: those of pensioners, of able-bodied persons, and mixed households consisting of pensioners and the able-bodied. On the data from the largest Rosstat survey — Statistical Survey of Income and Participation in Social Programs (VNDN) were made estimates of latent poverty for urban and rural population of Russia, for households with different number of children. It shows that latent poverty and coherence of different population groups are not contrary to the meaningful views on the phenomenon. It is found out that the understated size of the subsistence minimum (absolute poverty line) leads to lack of coherence between three estimates for households of pensioners. In this case, feeling of poverty and deprivation levels are not in line with the economic estimation of poverty.

Viability of Farm Households in Russia: Theoretical Approaches and Practical Conclusions

The article describes a relatively new theory not previously discussed in Russian scientific literature, the subjective equilibrium theory of the farm household, and applies it to analyse the behaviour of Russian part-time farm households. The purpose of the study is to reveal key factors of these farmers’ behaviour in order to make a forecast for the future. The analysis is carried out using the example of the Republic of Bashkortostan.

Housing Differentiation in Post-Soviet Russia: The Institutional and Economic Context of Housing Tenure Group Dynamics

This article presents the population dynamics of housing tenure groups in the changing institutional and economic conditions of post-Soviet Russia. We show that during the first stages of privatization, different income groups did not differ in the share of households whose members obtained the status of property owners, but that the share of those who owned the housing they occupied in the low-income group became lower than in other groups beginning in the early 2000s. Meanwhile, the differentiation of income groups by ownership of other housing assets remains: There are twice as many who own second housing properties among high-income households than among the poor. The modern housing stratum of Russian households represents a combination of the two large middle groups, those who own only apartments or houses (70 percent), and a multitude of small, low-populated groups: “housing minorities” of apartment tenants below that stratification (10 percent) and owners of several housing assets above it (16–17 percent). We might attribute the middle stratum to the 1.5 percent of households living in homes they themselves do not own but who own other housing assets.

The impact of internal and external environment factors on savings behavior of households in Russia

The impact of internal and external environment factors on savings behavior of households in Russia

The Giffene effect and the paradoxes of potato and cereal consumption by Russian households, with real incomes falling

The Giffene effect and the paradoxes of potato and cereal consumption by Russian households, with real incomes falling

Sanctions and Counter-Sanctions — What Are their Economic Effects in Russia and Elsewhere?

In this note I review the literature on the economic effects of sanctions against Russia and Russia's own counter-sanctions. There are papers looking at the macroeconomic effects of sanctions as well as their effects on international trade and financial flows. All such papers must also deal with the collapse of oil price, which happened almost concurrently with the introduction of sanctions. Most papers find a negative effect of sanctions on Russia's general economic development since 2014. This effect most likely operates both via foreign trade and decreasing foreign capital flows into Russia. Moreover, Russia's own counter-sanctions have a clear negative effect on the well-being of an average Russian household.

Terra Incognita of Russian Bibliology: On Application and Localization of the Concept of “Russian North”

The concept of “Russian North” is actively used in the media and in scientific literature. However, only few people think about its meaning. In the field of bibliology, the uncertainty of the idea of the Russian North territory complicates the selection of material for studying the book culture of this region. Analysis of the practice of using the concept shows that this problem appeared in the 19th century, when researchers differently defined the territory of the Russian North. In most cases, they were directed by the conclusions of historical science, which included in this region all the lands ever and in any way connected with the Novgorod Republic. This stereotype, formed almost 200 years ago, still exists now. However, the data obtained as a result of archeological and historical research carried out over the last 50 years cast doubts on the validity of the Novgorod paradigm.In ethnography, methods of which began to be actively used in book studies in the second half of the 20th century, there is also no unified opinion on the territorial structure of the Russian North. Attempts to combine its borders with the areas of distribution of North Russian dialects and the complex of traditional North Russian household culture have shown ineffectiveness of this method in modern world.On the one hand, new culturological theories that appeared at the cusp of the 20th—21st centuries offered new aspects for studying the Russian North, but on the other hand, they moved it into the field of abstraction, actually depriving it of its geographic boundaries. As long as the issue of the Russian North localization remains open in bibliology, this study attempts to systemize and analyze the accumulated information. As a result, the article raises questions about the necessity of further preservation of the stereotype; about the eligibility to classify to the Russian North the territories that are not related to it in terms of geography, or have a conditional relation from the point of view of history; about the rightness of application of the toponymic form of the concept in relation to the North European part of Russia, without regard to the North of Siberia. In conclusion, the article makes some correction in relation to the authorship of the term “Russian North”, which is traditionally attributed to the Civil Governor of Arkhangelsk A.P. Engelgardt.

Оценка трансфертов времени внутри домохозяйств

Статья посвящена исследованию трансфертов времени между членами российских домашних хозяйств, определению роли женщин и мужчин в производстве и потреблении домашних услуг, а также оценке «невидимого» для рыночной экономики домашнего труда. Исследование основано на методологии, разработанной в рамках глобального проекта ООН «Национальные трансфертные счета». На эмпирических данных изучена асимметрия в распределении домашних обязанностей между мужчинами и женщинами, показано, что женщины за сутки, в среднем, производят почти на 3 часа больше временных трансфертов по сравнению с мужчинами. Таким образом, женщины с 20 до 80 лет являются производителями домашних услуг для всех членов семьи. С учетом работы по дому, 8-часовой рабочий день женщин на рынке труда ежедневно может продлеваться почти на 40%. Традиционные выводы о большем вкладе женщин как в экономику заботы, так и в ведение домашнего хозяйства подкреплены оригинальными выводами о наличии возрастных пиков у мужчин и женщин в производстве и потреблении трансфертов времени; построена матрица межпоколенческих и межгендерных трансфертов времени. Оценка «невидимого» для рыночной экономики продукта составила 25,3% ВВП в 2014 г.

Peculiarities of forming the savings by the Russian population in modern conditions

The opportunities for economic growth of a state are largely determined by the level of financial market development and the money supply status. In the economically developed countries, household savings are the main source of temporarily idle funds in financial markets. The article aims to analyze the formation process of savings in households in Russia at the present stage, and to identify the factors that have the greatest impact on this process. It is established that in the economy to date, the effects of shocks from lower energy prices and economic sanctions have been overcome. This is reflected in GDP growth, in the reduction of inflation, and in the positive forecasts of the World Bank. However, the analysis of the indicators of the population cash incomes formation demonstrates that, despite the growth of wages and pensions, real disposable cash income of households is stagnating. In addition, the poverty level of the population does not decrease. All this leads to the fact that the population's savings activity is at a low level. There is also a trend towards an increase in the amount of cash remaining outside the sphere of consumption or investment. This indicates a lack of confidence in the mechanism of the financial market. The paper proposes measures to overcome negative factors affecting the savings activity of households.

The Involvement of Russian Households in Intergenerational Transfers 2008-14

This paper investigates how households of various demographic compositions are involved in private intergenerational transfers in Russia. The authors provide a descriptive analysis of private exchanges using household surveys. The Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey—Higher School of Economics (RLMS-HSE, 2004, 2008, 2013), The Comprehensive Monitoring of Living Conditions (KOUG, Rosstat), The Survey of the Population Income and the Participation in Social Programs (VNDN, Rosstat). The study demonstrates that the demographic composition of households is an important predictor of household involvement in private exchanges of different goods and services. Single-person households and households represented by couples without children show their particular donor capacity in private intergenerational transfers. The recipients of private material transfers are primarily one-parent families and couples with under-age children. Multigenerational households and other households are also recipients of private material transfers. This paper demonstrates that the role of a household’s private exchange is related to their financial situation, but the role of private intergenerational transfers is not limited to giving assistance to the poor.

Trends and Prospective Estimates of the Number of Households in the Russian Federation

According to the Law of the Russian Federation “On the All-Russian Population Census” (2002) a household is considered as a group of people living in a dwelling house, apartment or room, or part of a dwelling house or apartment that jointly provides itself with the necessary means of subsistence and which unites all or part of its income, or a person residing in a residential building, an apartment or a room, or a part of an apartment house or apartment and independently providing itself with the necessary means of subsistence.According to the calculations of 2009, based on Rosstat’s forecast, the number of households in Russia was to make up from 52.5 million by the low estimate to 58.9 million by the high estimate in 2030. Like any forecast, these estimates require regular revision, refinement due to the appearance of new data.Based on the current trends in the development of households in the world and in Russia, the article attempts to provide updated estimates of changes in the number and structure of Russian households at the end of 2030.

Income inequality, subjective perception and impact on psychosocial well-being of the population

Purpose of research.The work is devoted to the study of socio-economic differentiation in Russia and its impact on the financial situation of the population, its subjective perception, as well as on the psychosocial well-being of individuals. To achieve this goal, the following tasks are to be solved: clustering of regions of the Russian Federation, based on socio-economic indexes; studying the interrelation between the level of socio-economic development of the region and the financial situation of residents; studying the interrelation between the level of socio-economic development of the region and the subjective perception by individuals of their financial situation; studying the interrelation between the level of socio-economic development of the region and the psychosocial well-being of individuals.Materials and methods.The information base of the study includes: regional data, published by the State Committee on Statistics in the digest “Russian Federation Regions”, household survey data “Russian monitoring of the economic situation and health of the population HSE” (RLMS-HSE). Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey of Higher School of Economics is a representative socio-economic survey of Russian households, in which the content structure of the used questionnaires meets the standard, adopted in the world practice.The study uses the following methods: cluster analysis (k-means method), statistical groupings, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney statistical tests.Results. The study showed that:– the Russian Federation regions are very heterogeneous in terms of socio-economic development – specific indicators for the regions may differ significantly. It should be taken into account in the study of any social and economic problems, including the problems of income inequality;– Russian regions can be divided into four clusters. Analysis of the petal diagram of clusters made it possible to reveal their features and give them generalized characteristics. The first cluster includes regions with very high investment, fixed assets and GRP per capita. The second cluster includes regions with an average level of development. The third cluster includes regions with a high level of development. The fourth cluster includes depressive regions;– There is a clear correlation between the level of socio-economic development of the region of residence and the objective financial situation of residents: the incomes of respondents, living in the leading regions are significantly higher than the incomes of respondents of other clusters; the incomes of respondents, living in depressed regions are lower than the incomes of respondents of other clusters;– Individuals’ perception of their financial situation and their concerns are practically the same in all clusters and do not correlate with the level of socio-economic development of the region of residence;– The level of economic development of the region of residence does not have a significant direct impact on psychosocial well-being – individuals from different clusters feel almost equally satisfied with life and almost equally happy.

Семья и домохозяйство в России: демографический аспект

В статье рассматривается эволюция демографической структуры российских домохозяйств. Проведен детальный анализ отечественных переписей и микропереписей населения с использованием длинного временного ряда и описанием особенностей сопоставления данных переписей разных лет. Ввиду того, что объектом советских переписей была семья, а постсоветских – домохозяйство, возможности анализа длинного ряда данных по России ограничены. В то же время выделение домохозяйства в качестве объекта наблюдения в российских переписях делает их сопоставимыми со статистикой домохозяйств многих зарубежных стран. На основе данных переписей и микропереписей населения выявлены основные тенденции в изменении размера и структуры домохозяйств в России. Проведён сравнительный анализ структуры домохозяйств в России и в зарубежных странах (странах Европы и США). Показано, что, несмотря на снижение среднего размера домохозяйства и рост доли домохозяйств одиночек, доля домохозяйств из трех и более человек в общей совокупности домохозяйств в России всё ещё значительно выше, чем в Европе и США. Состав российских домохозяйств отличает сравнительно низкая доля супружеских пар без детей и высокая доля неполных (особенно сложных) семейных домохозяйств. Демографический анализ дополнен анализом структуры домохозяйства на разных стадиях жизненного цикла.