Fifteen Years of Economic Reform in Russia: What Has Been Achieved? What Remains to Be Done?

Abstract

The paper provides an overview of the course of economic reform and the performance of the Russian economy since the early 1990s and an analysis of the structural reform challenges ahead. It assesses the contribution of institutional and structural reforms to economic performance over the period, before turning to the question of where further structural reforms could make the biggest contribution to improved performance. Three major conclusions emerge. First, there is still a great deal to be done to strengthen the basic institutions of the market economy. While the Russian authorities have embarked on some impressive -and often technically complex -'second-generation' reforms, many 'first-generation' reforms have yet to be completed. Secondly, the central challenges of Russia's second decade of reform are primarily concerned with reforming state institutions. Thirdly, the pursuit of reforms across a broad front could enable Russia to profit from complementarities that exist among various strands of reform. * * * Résumé Quinze ans de réformes économiques en Russie : Qu'a-t-elle acquis ? Que reste-t-il à faire ?L'article donne un aperçu du déroulement des réformes économiques et des performances de l'économie russe depuis le début des années 90, ainsi qu'une analyse des enjeux des futures réformes structurelles. L'article considère la contribution des réformes institutionnelles et structurelles à la performance économique durant la période, avant d'examiner dans quels domaines des réformes structurelles additionnelles pourraient avoir la plus grande contribution à l'amélioration de la performance économique. Il en résulte trois conclusions majeures. Premièrement, il reste encore beaucoup à faire pour renforcer les institutions de base d'une économie de marché. Bien que les autorités russes aient commencé quelques réformes de « seconde génération » qui sont impressionnantes -et souvent techniquement complexes-, il reste un bon nombre de réformes de « première génération » à achever. Deuxièmement, les défis centraux de la deuxième décennie de réformes concernent en première ligne la réforme des institutions de l'État. Troisièmement, la poursuite des réformes sur un large front permettrait à la Russie de profiter des complémentarités existantes entre les différents axes des réformes.

Is There Convergence of Russia's Regions? Exploring the Empirical Evidence: 1995-2010

“…Among the first studies on the economic performance of Russian regions, Mikheeva (1999) and Popov (1999) resource endowments and industrial structure, explain the differences in regional growth, whereas only natural resources remain significant in periods of growth, when other factors such as political reforms contribute to the path. In previous papers (Ahrend 2005(Ahrend , 2006Ahrend and Tompson 2005), no evidence of convergence can be established controlling for initial industrial production, though convergence is found in real income. Guriev and Vakulenko (2012) perform inequality decompositions by income sources and study convergence in Gross Regional Product, incomes and wages.…”

Is There Convergence of Russia's Regions?

“…He identifies which factors affect economic growth during periods of crisis and growth: in the former scenario, initial conditions, in particular resource endowments and industrial structure, explain the differences in regional growth, whereas only natural resources remain significant in periods of growth, when other factors such as political reforms contribute to the path. In previous papers (Ahrend 2005(Ahrend , 2006Ahrend and Tompson 2005), no evidence of convergence can be established controlling for initial industrial production, though convergence is found in real income. Guriev and Vakulenko (2012) perform inequality decompositions by income sources and study convergence in Gross Regional Product, incomes and wages.…”

TN - 4 - Dinte - Brazil and Russia : how to improve the economic relationship beyond resource-based insdustries

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