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The Political Economy of Famine: The Ukrainian Famine of 1933

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  • Naumenko, Natalya

Abstract

The 1933 Ukrainian famine killed as many as 2.6 million people out of a population of 32 million. Historians offer three main explanations: weather, economic policies, genocide. This paper documents that (1) available data do not support weather as the main explanation: 1931 and 1932 weather predicts harvest roughly equal to the 1924–1929 average; weather explains up to 8.1 percent of excess deaths. (2) Policies (collectivization of agriculture and the lack of favored industries) significantly increased famine mortality; collectivization explains up to 52 percent of excess deaths. (3) There is some evidence that ethnic Ukrainians and Germans were discriminated against.

Suggested Citation

  • Naumenko, Natalya, 2021. "The Political Economy of Famine: The Ukrainian Famine of 1933," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(1), pages 156-197, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:81:y:2021:i:1:p:156-197_5
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    Cited by:

    1. Ekaterina Zhuravskaya & Sergei Guriev & Andrei Markevich, 2024. "New Russian Economic History," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 62(1), pages 47-114, March.
    2. Ananyev, Maxim & Poyker, Mikhail, 2024. "Prison Norms and Society beyond Bars," IZA Discussion Papers 17138, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Ó Gráda, Cormac & Lee, Chihua & Lumey, L. H., 2023. "How Much Schizophrenia Do Famines Cause?," MPRA Paper 119448, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Basco, Sergi & Domènech, Jordi & Maravall, Laura, 2023. "Land reform and rural conflict. Evidence from 1930s Spain," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    5. Leonard Kukić, 2024. "Technical change and the postwar slowdown in Soviet economic growth in a long run perspective, 1885–2019," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 77(2), pages 644-674, May.
    6. Serena Vigezzi & Jose Manuel Aburto & Iñaki Permanyer & Virginia Zarulli, 2022. "Divergent trends in lifespan variation during mortality crises," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 46(11), pages 291-336.
    7. Art Carden, 2023. "Economic planning must be polycentric, not monocentric: Introduction to a symposium on Mises and Hayek on socialism and knowledge," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 89(3), pages 647-656, January.
    8. Kennedy, Liam, 2022. "Famine as genocide? Ukraine and Ireland," QUCEH Working Paper Series 22-03, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.

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