Russian Inequality on the Eve of Revolution

Steven Nafziger () and Peter Lindert

No 18383, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Just how unequal were the incomes of different classes of Russians on the eve of Revolution, relative to other countries, to Russia's earlier history, and to Russia's income distribution today? Careful weighing of an eclectic data set provides provisional answers. We provide detailed income estimates for economic and social classes in each of the 50 provinces of European Russia. In 1904, on the eve of military defeat and the 1905 Revolution, Russian income inequality was middling by the standards of that era, and less severe than inequality has become today in such countries as China, the United States, and Russia itself. We also note how the interplay of some distinctive fiscal and relative-price features of Imperial Russia might have shaped the now-revealed level of inequality.

JEL-codes: N30 N33 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cis, nep-cwa, nep-his, nep-ltv and nep-tra
Note: DAE LS PE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published as Lindert, Peter H. & Nafziger, Steven, 2014. "Russian Inequality on the Eve of Revolution," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(03), pages 767-798, September.

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Journal Article: Russian Inequality on the Eve of Revolution (2014)
Working Paper: Russian Inequality on the Eve of Revolution (2013)
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