Income In Russia Research Articles

Universal basic income as regulator of improving the standards and quality of life: statement of the problem and introduction to analysis

This article deals with the issue of the impact of universal basic income (UBI) on the standards and quality of life of population, highlights some theoretical and methodological aspects of its introduction, characterizes the current state of research on this issue and the experience of other countries. It presents the basic conceptual provisions of the scientific study conducted by the authors, which are aimed at the theoretical and methodological substantiation of the idea of introducing universal basic income in Russia, its forms, tools and possible application mechanisms for transformation of the processes and structures of the functioning of the labor and employment sphere, development of human potential, reduction of absolute monetary poverty and excessive socio-economic inequality, that meet modern technological challenges and lead to improving the standards and quality of life of people and the sustainability of the state and society. The presented study is of high significance due to influence of the category “universal basic income”, practical forms, tools and mechanisms of its application on the essential aspects of the life of people, on the expected improvement in their standards and quality of life and the sustainability of the state and society. It will contribute to formation of the scientific, organizational, instrumental and documentary basis for implementation of pilot projects at the regional level, where transitional forms of universal basic income relevant to Russia can be tested. Testing UBI in Russia is of a particular relevance because of the widespread precarious employment, high poverty rates and excessive socio-economic inequality in our country.

A Comparative Analysis of Popular Attitudes toward the Idea of Universal Basic Income in Russia vs Europe

In recent decade Europe and Russia are facing new challenges leading to deepening and increasing of intergroup and cross-national conflicts, threatening the social solidarity reached by previous generations. All European societies are involved in extensive discussions about reforming of current social welfare system. One proposal is the introduction of unconditional basic income (UBI). For the first time cross-national comparative data on population’s support for UBI were collected in European social survey (ESS, round 8, 2017–2018) in 23 European countries including Russia. The data analysis described in the article shows that cross-national differences in the support for introducing basic income scheme in Europe are unexpectedly high taking into account relative novelty of this idea in public debate and its radical character. Several hypothesis about the reasons and factors driving cross-national differences in attitudes toward UBI schema were suggested and discussed in the articles using ESS data including the hypothesis of economic affordability and the impact of general economic prosperity, the hypothesis of the need for social support, satisfaction with current national welfare system and demand for more extensive welfare programs and the hypothesis of national social-historical experience. Data shows that UBI schema is supported by young Europeans more than by older age groups. Popular support for the introduction of UBI schema in Russia is one of the highest in Europe. Regression analysis of ESS survey data provides evidence that high level of dissatisfaction and high demand for radical reforms of national social welfare system and more social justice in the distribution of national wealth contribute to the popular support of UBI idea in Russia.

Different Goals of the Same Society

What will be the image of a society, if we consider it in the context of life plans of its citizens? How strong is the social commitment to achieve greater well-being through the implementation of life goals in the society? The results of the study show that only 52% of Russians have a conscious and realizable life goals, while the other part of society does not set any life goals for the future. The identified proportions of the population with utilitarian, idealistic and mixed goals, based on the criterion of connection with material consumption and orientation on themselves or onto others are estimated. It is shown that subjectively expected income growth associated with the implementation of utilitarian and mixed life goals is comparable with the average income in Russia. The contribution of individuals’ social status components and self-evaluation of the past achievements to the differentiation of the population by the presence / absence of goals, idealistic and utilitarian nature of goals, by the social nature of the lack of goals is measured. The survey was carried out on the basis of a representative sampling for the Russian Federation, taking into account proportions of the population aged 18 and above, respondents’ gender, types of settlement, social and professional groups, quotas except rural population in 2017. The overall size of sampling is 700.

Improvement of taxation of individuals' income in Russia in the context of formation of socially oriented tax policy

Improvement of taxation of individuals' income in Russia in the context of formation of socially oriented tax policy

Improvement of taxation of individuals' income in Russia in the context of formation of socially oriented tax policy

Improvement of taxation of individuals' income in Russia in the context of formation of socially oriented tax policy

The Migration of Labor and Migrant Incomes in Russia

This article examines recent labor migration trends in Russia. Attention is paid to how migrant flows have been impacted by the current economic crisis and changes in migration legislation that occurred from 2013 to 2015. To assess the position of migrants in the Russian labor market, we have analyzed the wage ratio between migrants from Tajikistan and Russian citizens. For the period under review (2007–2011), the results suggest a leveling of difference in the wages of local workers and migrants.

Contribution of various income sources to interregional inequality of the per capita income in the Russian Federation

Research background: The reduction lately observed in interregional differences in the per capita income in Russia requires some clarification of the reasons. One possible way to do this could be decomposition of interregional inequality in personal incomes by income sources, i.e.: wages and salaries, property incomes, social transfers, entrepreneurship incomes and revenues from informal activities.
 Purpose of the article: The objective of this research is identification of the character, direction and degree of influence of various income sources on interregional inequality and convergence of Russian regions by their per capita income in 2001?2014. 
 Methods: We brought personal incomes in the regions to a comparable level using the relative cost of fixed consumer basket. Then we applied the population-weighted Gini coefficient, coefficient of variation, and the Theil index to measure the interregional inequality in personal incomes in dynamics. Further usage of various techniques of inequality decomposition allowed us to evaluate contribution of different types of income to the Russian regions? convergence across time.
 Findings & value added: Various types of income demonstrated different paths of interregional inequality, changes in interaction and in the shares of total income, which altogether influenced spatial inequality. Wages and salaries showed the largest and growing impact on inequality. The contribution of informal incomes to the overall inequality was the second largest, but diminishing and negatively interacting with other unevenly distributed types of income; thereby they provided more than half of the total interregional convergence. Entrepreneurship incomes revealed slightly decreasing influence on inequality, which was mainly neutralized by their reduction in the share of total income. Social transfers demonstrated the largest smoothing effect, however, their contribution to convergence was exhausted. Property incomes evidenced the greatest enhancing impact on inequality especially in the period of recovery. Additionally, informal incomes played the role of substitutes for formal incomes providing self-replicating mechanisms for reducing inequality in Russia.

The Precariousness of Employment and Labor Incomes in Russia and Germany: Self-Perception of Wage Workers

The Precariousness of Employment and Labor Incomes in Russia and Germany: Self-Perception of Wage Workers

The Russian Financial Crisis and Workers’ Remittances to Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic

In this paper, we estimate the link between remittances and key macroeconomic variables of the host country (Russia) and the world’s most remittance-dependent economies of Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic. We mostly focus on the relationship during the ongoing Russian financial crisis. In particular, we estimate the responses of remittances to a shock in the exchange rate and per capita income in Russia and those of the key macroeconomic fundamentals of Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic to a shock in remittance inflows. The empirical findings show that remittances serve as a channel to transfer the negative effects of the global and the Russian financial crises from the Russian macroeconomic fundamentals to the macroeconomic indicators of Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic.

Features of Formation of Primary Incomes in the Russian Economy

The article is devoted to compensation estimation as one of primary incomes in GDP. Regularities and features of compensation formation in the Russian economy in the 2000s are considered. GDP structures by kinds of primary incomes in Russia and in the countries of Euro zone are compared. The results of research confirm that the parameters (numerical characteristics) of incomes formation structures in Russia and in European countries do not differ significantly.

Who Bears the Burden of Taxes on Labor Income in Russia?

In 2001 the Russian government introduced a bold reform of its tax system, which included the adoption of a flat-rate income tax. Until then, only a few countries, including the transition countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, had adopted a flat-rate income tax. This reform has naturally attracted a great deal of attention, as many countries have been toying with the idea of a flat-rate income tax. In this paper we investigate the tax incidence of Russia's flatrate reform. Although there are studies on the incidence of the personal income tax in other countries, to the best of our knowledge no study has been conducted so far on the incidence of income taxes in a transition economy.

Reform Strategies and Economic Performance of Russia's Regions

The paper examines major nonpolicy and policy factors that account for the varying patterns of change of output and incomes in Russia's regions. It is found that initial conditions (resource advantages) and institutional capacity has had considerable impact on performance, but there is no evidence that economic reforms has led to better output and investment dynamics. In contrast, for interpreting regional differences in per capita income change, reform progress (controlling for federal-regional financial transfers) is an important explanatory variable. Thus, the major impact of reforms has not been to boost output and investment, but to redirect incomes into pro-reform regions.

More Shock than Therapy: Market Transition, Employment, and Income in Russia, 1991–1995

Sixteen predictions from market transition theory are assessed using survey data on employment, earnings, and income in Russia, during the first five years of market reform. Although the private sector has grown, self‐employment is still rare. Incomes are down, and unemployment is up. A distended income distribution reflects unprecedented income inequality. Distinctive features of late Soviet‐era stratification persist: low returns to education, a gender gap in earnings, and low earnings among professionals. The Russian market transition offers more opportunity in trade, consumer services, and speculation and less in manufacturing than do other emerging makets. This corresponds to “merchat capitalism” and contradicts the predictions of market transition theory.Everything the Communists told us about communism was a lie. Everything they told us about capitalism turns out to be true. (Popular Russian joke, circa 1996)

HOUSING AND INCOME DISTRIBUTION IN RUSSIA: ZHIVAGO'S LEGACY

The inadequacy of housing and its effect on the quality of life go a long way toward explaining many aspects of Russian life, but little data has been available to determine how housing affected the relative well-being of the citizenry. This paper presents comprehensive data examining for the first time the effect that seventy years of a socialist housing allocation scheme had on the distribution of income. It seems clear that housing provided by the government or by employers has a value that can be measured to yield useful inferences about the distribution of income and wealth. This article shows that housing allocation had a progressive effect on the distribution of income in Russia. In addition, when the imputed value of housing is added to household income, the increase in income inequality that occurred in recent years is significantly reduced. The analysis concludes with a discussion of how housing policy could be used to address poverty concerns, an important aspect of the transition process.

The Economic Sociology of the Transitions from Socialism

Previous articleNext article No AccessSymposium on Market TransitionThe Economic Sociology of the Transitions from SocialismNeil FligsteinNeil Fligstein Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Journal of Sociology Volume 101, Number 4Jan., 1996 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/230790 Views: 24Total views on this site Citations: 31Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1996 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Qian He, Yu Xie Economic inequalities in contemporary rural China: How does political capital matter?, Social Science Research 105 (Jul 2022): 102724.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2022.102724Svetlana Kharchenkova Bringing Art Market Organizations to China: Cross-Border Isomorphism, Institutional Work and its Unintended Consequences, The China Quarterly 240 (Apr 2019): 1087–1107.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305741019000389Zhichang Zhu Institutional change and strategic choice: debating the ‘stage-model’ of strategy in emerging economies, Asia Pacific Business Review 24, no.33 (Oct 2017): 371–388.https://doi.org/10.1080/13602381.2017.1384130Hongxin Zhao, Jiangyong Lu Contingent value of political capital in bank loan acquisition: Evidence from founder-controlled private enterprises in China, Journal of Business Venturing 31, no.22 (Mar 2016): 153–174.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2015.12.002Felicia F. 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Politics and Markets: Dual Transformations

The articles published in this issue of the Journal help advance the debate on market reform in former socialist states. In our comment, besides dealing with data analysis issues, we suggest several ways to improve the level of debate about substantive issues. These suggestions include more attention to politics, including path dependence, and more attention to middle-level generalizations from other developing market societies.

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

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.