Valeri V. Patsiorkovski

Why Russia's Rural Poor Are Poor

Specialists on the Russian rural sector examine the level, extent, causes, and consequences of rural poverty in Russia. Analysis is based on survey data from person-to-person interviews of 800 rural households in five regions within Russia. The article examines structural, behavioral, and psychological factors, comparing the poor with the non-poor on each dimension.

Winners and Losers in Russian Agrarian Reform

More than ten years after Russian agrarian reform was begun, it is appropriate to reflect upon winners and losers. Using survey data from 800 households in five Russian regions, this article is interested in the effect of reform within the rural sphere. The analysis focuses on four groups of rural actors within the food production sphere: private farmers, farm managers, specialists employed on state and collective farms and their juridical successors, and farm workers employed on state and collective farms and their juridical successors The first part of the article examines winners and losers using the following variables: self-perceptions about winners and losers, monthly household income, job security, and ownership of certain durable goods. We conclude that private farmers have fared best relative to other occupational groups. On large farms, managers have fared best. The second part of the article analyses why winners win by considering structural and behavioural factors. We conclude that winners win because they take advantage of reform opportunities and engage in market-based activities.

Poverty and Adaptation in Rural Russia

Survey data are used to identify different levels of poverty emerging in the adaptation of rural households to the new Russian market economy. Three levels of poverty are described: the absolutely deprived, the deprived and the relatively deprived. Comparisons of the adaptation strategies of these different types of households are made with respect to (a) different sources of income; (b) access to physical capital; (c) household production and sales; (d) subjective quality of life and psychological well-being; and (e) overall income differentiation. Findings include the over-representation of husband and wife families with children and the lower representation of the elderly among the rural poor.

Russian Agrarian Reform: The Gender Dimension

Rural women fared worse during Russian agrarian reform; and they are more economically conservative. But economic conservatism does not translate into political conservatism, as women support conservative parties and candidates less than men do.

Household Responses, Regional Diversity and Contemporary Agrarian Reform in Russia

This article analyses divergent patterns of responses using survey data from rural households in three region of Russia. The purpose of this article is to explore how household responses to reform differ in geographically distinct regions. Second, the goal is to compare regional response patterns using a standardized set of reform dimensions: perceptions about winners and losers, responses to land reform opportunities, the structure of household income, and the use of economic assistance networks. The article concludes that factors other than geography and climate influence responses to reform.