IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/empiri/v44y2017i3d10.1007_s10663-017-9377-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Oligarchs and social capital in Russian regions: a quantitative assessment

Author

Listed:
  • Lidwina Gundacker

    (Zeppelin University
    University College London)

  • Jarko Fidrmuc

    (Zeppelin University
    Institute of East and Southeast European Studies (IOS)
    Charles University in Prague
    Kaunas University of Technology)

Abstract

After the collapse of the Soviet Union a new class of entrepreneurs, the so called ‘oligarchs’, have emerged in Russia. Using individual survey data for Russia in combination with unique regional data on oligarchic dominance, we try to illuminate the relationship of oligarchs and levels of social capital in Russian regions. We further examine the interplay of oligarchs and public governance. The analysis reveals that social capital in terms of informal network strength and trust is significantly higher in regions with stronger oligarchic dominance. While the quality of all levels of public governance is perceived to be worse in oligarchic regions, this effect is especially pronounced for the local government.

Suggested Citation

  • Lidwina Gundacker & Jarko Fidrmuc, 2017. "Oligarchs and social capital in Russian regions: a quantitative assessment," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 44(3), pages 509-527, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:empiri:v:44:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s10663-017-9377-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10663-017-9377-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10663-017-9377-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10663-017-9377-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Scott Gehlbach & Konstantin Sonin & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2010. "Businessman Candidates," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(3), pages 718-736, July.
    2. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/18morovaof8fdbvqtbkas8cvhm is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2004. "The Role of Social Capital in Financial Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 526-556, June.
    4. Jan Fidrmuc, 2012. "How Persistent is Social Capital?," CEDI Discussion Paper Series 12-04, Centre for Economic Development and Institutions(CEDI), Brunel University.
    5. Daron Acemoglu, 2008. "Oligarchic Versus Democratic Societies," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 6(1), pages 1-44, March.
    6. Sergei Guriev & Andrei Rachinsky, 2005. "The Role of Oligarchs in Russian Capitalism," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(1), pages 131-150, Winter.
    7. Eggers, Andrew & Gaddy, Clifford & Graham, Carol, 2006. "Well-being and unemployment in Russia in the 1990s: Can society's suffering be individuals' solace?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 209-242, April.
    8. Maxim Ananiev & Sergei Guriev, 2014. "The Effect of Income on Trust: the Evidence from 2009 Crisis in Russia," Working Papers hal-03429914, HAL.
    9. Mr. Francis Fukuyama, 2000. "Social Capital and Civil Society," IMF Working Papers 2000/074, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Konstantin Sonin & Scott Gehlbach, 2004. "Businessman Candidates," Econometric Society 2004 North American Summer Meetings 178, Econometric Society.
    11. Guriev, Sergei & Yakovlev, Evgeny & Zhuravskaya, Ekaterina, 2010. "Interest group politics in a federation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(9-10), pages 730-748, October.
    12. Fidrmuc, Jarko & Gundacker, Lidwina, 2017. "Income inequality and oligarchs in Russian regions: A note," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 196-207.
    13. Hjøllund, Lene & Paldam, Martin & Svendsen, Gert Tinggaard, 2001. "Social Capital in Russia and Denmark: A Comparative Study," Working Papers 01-13, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Department of Economics.
    14. Sergei Guriev & Nikita Melnikov, 2016. "War, Inflation, and Social Capital," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 230-235, May.
    15. Liliya Karachurina, 2013. "Domestic Labour Migration In Russia: Incidence And Geography Of Migration," Russian Economic Development, Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, issue 7, pages 45-48, July.
    16. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4mupcmg7bt8iv8k3lhvbqr8p51 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1cu21pio6c90g9i5oedr5hnaa3 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), 2005. "Handbook of Economic Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    19. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/18morovaof8fdbvqtbkas8cvhm is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jarko Fidrmuc & Serhiy Moroz & Fabian Reck, 2021. "Regional risk-sharing in Ukraine," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 48(3), pages 645-660, August.
    2. repec:zbw:bofitp:2020_025 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Jarko Fidrmuc & Serhiy Moroz & Fabian Reck, 2021. "Regional risk-sharing in Ukraine," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 48(3), pages 645-660, August.
    4. Vladimir Otrachshenko & Milena Nikolova & Olga Popova, 2023. "Double-edged sword: persistent effects of Communist regime affiliations on well-being and preferences," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1139-1185, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Serguey Braguinsky, 2009. "Postcommunist Oligarchs in Russia: Quantitative Analysis," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(2), pages 307-349, May.
    2. Hasan, Iftekhar & He, Qing & Lu, Haitian, 2020. "The impact of social capital on economic attitudes and outcomes," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    3. Baltrunaite, Audinga & Bello, Piera & Casarico, Alessandra & Profeta, Paola, 2014. "Gender quotas and the quality of politicians," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 62-74.
    4. Christian Staat & Colin R. Kuehnhanss, 2017. "Outside Earnings, Electoral Systems and Legislative Effort in the European Parliament," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), pages 368-386, March.
    5. Grzegorz Tchorek & Michał Brzozowski & Katarzyna Dziewanowska & Agnieszka Allen & Waldemar Kozioł & Michał Kurtyka & Filip Targowski, 2020. "Social Capital and Value Co-Creation: The Case of a Polish Car Sharing Company," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-20, June.
    6. Antoci Angelo & Sabatini Fabio & Sodini Mauro, 2009. "Will growth and technology destroy social interaction? The inverted U-shape hypothesis," wp.comunite 0057, Department of Communication, University of Teramo.
    7. Forte, Anabel & Peiró-Palomino, Jesús & Tortosa-Ausina, Emili, 2015. "Does social capital matter for European regional growth?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 47-64.
    8. El-Shagi, Makram & Fidrmuc, Jarko & Yamarik, Steven, 2020. "Inequality and credit growth in Russian regions," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 550-558.
    9. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/1divsbu8t888r9vqektjbmlqoa is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Timothy Besley & Rohini Pande & Vijayendra Rao, 2005. "Political Selection and the Quality of Government: Evidence from South India," STICERD - Political Economy and Public Policy Paper Series 08, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.
    11. Pande, Rohini, 2008. "Understanding Political Corruption in Low Income Countries," Handbook of Development Economics, in: T. Paul Schultz & John A. Strauss (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 50, pages 3155-3184, Elsevier.
    12. Mingfeng Lin & Nagpurnanand R. Prabhala & Siva Viswanathan, 2013. "Judging Borrowers by the Company They Keep: Friendship Networks and Information Asymmetry in Online Peer-to-Peer Lending," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(1), pages 17-35, August.
    13. Canen, Nathan & Ch, Rafael & Wantchekon, Leonard, 2023. "Political uncertainty and the forms of state capture," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    14. Irina Denisova & Markus Eller & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2010. "What do Russians think about transition?1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 18(2), pages 249-280, April.
    15. Guiso, Luigi & Zingales, Luigi & Sapienza, Paola, 2010. "Civic Capital as the Missing Link," CEPR Discussion Papers 7757, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Lorenzo Rocco & Elena Fumagalli & Marc Suhrcke, 2014. "From Social Capital To Health – And Back," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(5), pages 586-605, May.
    17. Yann Algan & Sergei Guriev & Elias Papaioannou & Evgenia Passari, 2017. "The European Trust Crisis and the Rise of Populism," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 48(2 (Fall)), pages 309-400.
    18. Ayyagari, Meghana & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2010. "Are innovating firms victims or perpetrators ? tax evasion, bribe payments, and the role of external finance in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5389, The World Bank.
    19. Alvin Etang, 2008. "Modelling the Effects of Socio-Economic Characteristics on Survey Trust: Empirical Evidence from Cameroon," Working Papers 0808, University of Otago, Department of Economics, revised Oct 2008.
    20. Huang, Rocco R., 2008. "Tolerance for uncertainty and the growth of informationally opaque industries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 333-353, October.
    21. Balán, Pablo & Dodyk, Juan & Puente, Ignacio, 2022. "The political behavior of family firms: Evidence from Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Russia; Oligarchs; Social capital; Trust; Network density; Institutions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • P36 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Consumer Economics; Health; Education and Training; Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:empiri:v:44:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s10663-017-9377-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.