Publisher Description

By 1999, Russia's economy was growing at almost 7% per year, and by 2008 reached 11th place in the world GDP rankings. Russia is now the world's second largest producer and exporter of oil, the largest producer and exporter of natural gas, and as a result has the third largest stock of foreign exchange reserves in the world, behind only China and Japan. But while this impressive economic growth has raised the average standard of living and put a number of wealthyRussians on the Forbes billionaires list, it has failed to solve the country's deep economic and social problems inherited from the Soviet times. Russia continues to suffer from a distorted economicstructure, with its low labor productivity, heavy reliance on natural resource extraction, low life expectancy, high income inequality, and weak institutions. While a voluminous amount of literature has studied various individual aspects of the Russian economy, in the West there has been no comprehensive and systematic analysis of the socialist legacies, the current state, and future prospects of the Russian economy gathered in one book.The Oxford Handbook of theRussian Economy fills this gap by offering a broad range of topics written by the best Western and Russian scholars of the Russian economy. While the book's focus is the current state of the Russian economy,the first part of the book also addresses the legacy of the Soviet command economy and offers an analysis of institutional aspects of Russia's economic development over the last decade. The second part covers the most important sectors of the economy. The third part examines the economic challenges created by the gigantic magnitude of regional, geographic, ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity of Russia. The fourth part covers various social issues, including health, education, anddemographic challenges. It will also examine broad policy challenges, including the tax system, rule of law, as well as corruption and the underground economy. Michael Alexeev and Shlomo Weber provide forthe first time in one volume a complete, well-rounded, and essential look at the complex, emerging Russian economy.

Author Biography

Michael V. Alexeev is a Professor of Economics at Indiana University.Shlomo Weber is a Robert H. and Nancy Dedman Trustee Professor at Southern Methodist University.

Table of Contents

1. IntroductionA Look at the Past2. Modernization and the Russian Economy: Three Hundred Years of Catching Up - Vladimir Mau and Tatiana Drobyshevskaya3. Command economy and its legacy - Richard E. Ericson4. Russia's Economic Transition - Anders Aslund5. Transformational recession - Vladimir Popov6. Growth trends in Russia after 1998 - Revold M. Entov and Oleg V. LugovoyInstitutions and governance7. Institutional performance - Leonid Polishchuk8. Corporate governance in Russia - Ruben Enikolopov and Sergey Stepanov9. The Russian tax system - Michael V. Alexeev and Robert F. Conrad10. The Unofficial Economy in Russia - Byung-Yeon Kim11. Russian Corruption - Mark J. Levin and Georgy A. SatarovResources and environment12. Russia's dependence on resources - Clifford G. Gaddy and Barry W. Ickes13. The Russian oil sector - Arild Moe and Valeriy A. Kryukov14. The natural gas sector - Arild Moe and Valeriy A. Kryukov15. Russian electricity market: variants of development - Alexander Vasin16. The economics of mineral resources -Stephen Fortescue17. The challenge of reforming environmental regulation in Russia - Alexander A. Golub, Mikhail Kozeltsev, Alexander Martusevich and Elena StrukovaFinancial and Real sectors18. Economics of the military-industrial complex - Steven Rosefielde19. Blame the Switchman? Russian Railways Restructuring After Ten Years - Russell Pittman.20. Russian Agriculture and Transition - Zvi Lerman and David Sedik21. Science, High tech industries and innovation - Valery Makarov and Alexander Varshavsky22. Russian banking as an active volcano - Koen Schoors and Ksenia Yudaeva23. Financial and credit markets - Pekka Sutela24. Russian Trade and Foreign Direct Investment Policy at the Crossroads - David G. Tarr and Natalia VolchkovaRegions25. Economic geography of Russia - Andrei Markevich and Tatiana N. Mikhailova26. Fiscal federalism: Impact of Political and Fiscal (De)centralization - Michael V. Alexeev and Shlomo Weber27. Regional Challenges: the Case of Siberia - Judith ThorntonPolicy and Social Challenges28. Labor Market Adjustment: Is Russia Different? - Vladimir Gimpelson and Rostislav Kapeliushnikov29. Privatization - J. David Brown, John S. Earle, and Scott Gelbach30. Higher Education Reform and Access to College in Russia - Michael W. Kaganovich31. Russia's healthcare system: difficult path of reform - Sergey Shishkin32. Poverty and Inequality in Russia - Michael Lokshin and Ruslan Yemtsov33. Recent demographic developments in the Russian Federation - Irina Denisova and Judith Shapiro

Review

The editors observe that there has been no comprehensive and systematic analysis of the Russian economy gathered in one volume (pp. 1-2). This book is intended to fill that gap. It succeeds. * Philip Hanson, International Affairs *
It brings together a vast amount of information presented by authoritative authors in an informative and accessible way. Chapters can be recommended to students at different levels and the ample references to English and Russian sources will make this a very useful reference book not only on the Russian economy but also on related topics such as regions and social problems. * David Lane, Slavonic and East European Review *

Promotional

This Handbook is the most comprehensive up-to-date study of the Russian economy available.

Long Description

By 1999, Russia's economy was growing at almost 7% per year, and by 2008 reached 11th place in the world GDP rankings. Russia is now the world's second largest producer and exporter of oil, the largest producer and exporter of natural gas, and as a result has the third largest stock of foreign exchange reserves in the world, behind only China and Japan. But while this impressive economic growth has raised the average standard of living and put a number of wealthy
Russians on the Forbes billionaires list, it has failed to solve the country's deep economic and social problems inherited from the Soviet times. Russia continues to suffer from a distorted economic structure, with its low labor productivity, heavy reliance on natural resource extraction, low life
expectancy, high income inequality, and weak institutions. While a voluminous amount of literature has studied various individual aspects of the Russian economy, in the West there has been no comprehensive and systematic analysis of the socialist legacies, the current state, and future prospects of the Russian economy gathered in one book.The Oxford Handbook of the Russian Economy fills this gap by offering a broad range of topics written by the best Western and
Russian scholars of the Russian economy. While the book's focus is the current state of the Russian economy, the first part of the book also addresses the legacy of the Soviet command economy and offers an analysis of institutional aspects of Russia's economic development over the last decade. The second part
covers the most important sectors of the economy. The third part examines the economic challenges created by the gigantic magnitude of regional, geographic, ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity of Russia. The fourth part covers various social issues, including health, education, and demographic challenges. It will also examine broad policy challenges, including the tax system, rule of law, as well as corruption and the underground economy. Michael Alexeev and Shlomo Weber provide for the
first time in one volume a complete, well-rounded, and essential look at the complex, emerging Russian economy.

Review Quote

The editors observe that there has been no comprehensive and systematic analysis of the Russian economy gathered in one volume (pp. 1-2). This book is intended to fill that gap. It succeeds.

Feature

Selling point: The most comprehensive and up-to-date study of the Soviet economy
Selling point: Written by a unique, distinguished team of Russian and western authors

Details