Economic Geography of Russia

Markevich, Andreĭ; Mikhailova, Tatiana

doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199759927.013.0004

Cited by 24 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…As a result, the inertia of economic processes, supplemented by high migration costs, the history of the settlement system, and the geographical features of the territories, reduces and limits the spatial mobility of population and production. This gives the spatial structure of the economy formed during the Soviet period a certain amount of stability (Bertaud & Renaud, 1997; Markevich & Mikhailova, 2013; Shepotylo, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial development of the post‐Soviet Russia: Tendencies and factors

Kolomak

2020

Regional Science Policy & Practice

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The paper includes the research results on the changes in the spatial proportions of the development of post-Soviet Russia in several dimensions: east-west, "periphery"-"centre", rural-urban and resource-processing economies. The analysis showed that there was a concentration of economic activity throughout the country, which was accompanied by its shift from the east and the periphery to the west and to the centre of the country, respectively; the urban system was growing, and there was a concentration of population in large cities. However, the speed of these processes did not meet expectations; a more active dynamic was predicted as a result of market reforms. But despite this, the market and the agglomeration factors appear to be the main determinants of the observed spatial transformations. The generally accepted view that public investment and the resource economy, which were the most important factors of spatial development in the Soviet period, continue to be substantial, has not been confirmed. Federal investment is insignificant for noticeable changes in the spatial proportions, whereas the influence of mining sector appears to be ambiguous and depends on the regional specialization.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial development of the post‐Soviet Russia: Tendencies and factors

Kolomak

2020

Regional Science Policy & Practice

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“…Offshore investors (being Russians by origin) are unlikely to be the sources of such positive spillovers. Therefore, in the long run, the high diversity in regional corruption might lead to an uneven technological development across Russian regions and, thus, further deepen the inequality in Russia's economic geography (see also Markevich and Mikhailova ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Offshore Foreign Direct Investment, Capital Round‐Tripping, and Corruption: Empirical Analysis of Russian Regions

et al. 2015

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Recent economic geography research has identified the round‐tripping of capital from emerging economies to offshore financial centers (OFCs) and back as foreign direct investment (FDI) as a central element of the global offshore FDI network. However, the factors behind this phenomenon are not yet fully understood. Our study develops a general framework that conceptualizes the phenomenon of round‐trip investment. In particular, we argue that secrecy arbitrage, defined as interplay of onshore corruption and offshore secrecy, largely explains round‐trip investment between onshore jurisdictions and OFCs. First, we argue that part of the round‐trip FDI consists of proceeds from corruption, which is laundered in OFCs and reinvested back to the location of origin. Second, we maintain that the secrecy dimension of the OFC also motivates the round‐tripping of licit capital, as businesses use the secrecy provided by OFCs to hide their true identities from corrupt authorities in the home location. To test the validity of our argument about onshore corruption as a driver for round‐trip investment, we empirically analyze firm‐level data on the distribution of offshore FDI (which, we argue, is largely round‐trip) across Russian regions. Our empirical findings confirm that FDI from OFCs is positively associated with host region corruption, and this relationship is stronger for OFCs with a higher secrecy score. Hence, we conclude that round‐trip FDI is strongly motivated by the interplay between onshore corruption and offshore secrecy.

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“…11 RZhD (undated) 'History', https://eng.rzd.ru/en/9627, Accessed 12 July 2020. 12 Markevich, A. and Mikhailova, T. (2012), 'Economic Geography of Russia', New Economic School, Moscow, February 2012, https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/16ed/4b58dad340b475d86cffe 77bdd91a53921e2.pdf, Accessed 3 May 2020.…”

Section: Why Railways Matter To Russiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Russia’s Railway Infrastructure—Geography, Demography and Kremlinology

Ferris

2021

Sustainable Rail Transport 4

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This paper unpacks the sustainability of Russia's railway infrastructure, whose development faces innumerable challenges including its geography, demographic density and specific political considerations. The monopoly of companies such as Russian Railways (RZhD) over railway infrastructure, many of its freight carriers, and construction tenders have reduced business competition in this sector, and have made the railways a restrictive environment for foreign investors. Russia's demographic challenges, which include a much denser population distribution in the western part of the country, have meant that many regions in the central and eastern parts of the country remain remote, under-populated and inaccessible, despite the wealth of natural resources located there. Government plans to improve rail access to these disconnected areas are often unfeasible and unsustainable, and few foreign investors are willing to offer their financial support to projects that likely have low yields and high risks. Poor diplomatic relations with the West have restricted Russia access to western capital markets and alternative sources of loan financing, particularly for large infrastructure projects such as rail, and many western funders have withdrawn from Russia's rail market. Without a significant injection of foreign investment from Asian partners such as China, Japan or South Korea, improvements to Russia's railway network are likely to remain relatively piecemeal. For Russia's railway system to be sustainable in the long term, RZhD's monopoly must be broken up, international partnerships with countries that have similar geographic considerations could be brokered, and Russia must re-evaluate its demographic priorities. Climate change and new geographical conditions are likely to pose an additional challenge for Russia in the coming years, but without accumulating proper engineering expertise to mitigate these issues, the country's rail transport network is likely to lag behind those of its international counterparts.

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Economic Geography of Russia

Cited by 24 publications

References 32 publications

Spatial development of the post‐Soviet Russia: Tendencies and factors

Spatial development of the post‐Soviet Russia: Tendencies and factors

Offshore Foreign Direct Investment, Capital Round‐Tripping, and Corruption: Empirical Analysis of Russian Regions

Evaluating Russia’s Railway Infrastructure—Geography, Demography and Kremlinology

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