IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/abo/neswpt/w0146.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Great War, Civil War, and Recovery: Russia’National Income, 1913 to 1928

Author

Listed:
  • Andrei Markevich

    (New Economic School (Moscow), University of Warwick)

  • Mark Harrison

    (University of Warwick, University of Birmingham, Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace, Stanford University)

Abstract

The last remaining gap in the national accounts of Russia and the USSR in the twentieth century, 1913 to 1928, includes the Great War, the Civil War, and postwar recovery. Filling this gap, we find that the Russian economy did somewhat better in the Great War than was previously thought; in the Civil War it did correspondingly worse; war losses persisted into peacetime, and were not fully restored under the New Economic Policy. We compare this experience across regions and over time. The Great War and Civil War produced the deepest economic trauma of Russia’s troubled twentieth century.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrei Markevich & Mark Harrison, 2010. "Great War, Civil War, and Recovery: Russia’National Income, 1913 to 1928," Working Papers w0146, New Economic School (NES).
  • Handle: RePEc:abo:neswpt:w0146
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nes.ru/files/Preprints-resh/WP146.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Popov, Vladimir, 2010. "The Long Road to Normalcy," WIDER Working Paper Series 013, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. G. Warren Nutter & Israel Borenstein & Adam Kaufman, 1962. "Growth of Industrial Production in the Soviet Union," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number nutt62-1.
    3. J. DavidBrown & JohnS. Earle & Álmos Telegdy, 2010. "Employment and Wage Effects of Privatisation: Evidence from Hungary, Romania, Russia and Ukraine," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(545), pages 683-708, June.
    4. L. N. Litoshenko, 1927. "The National Income of the Soviet Union," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 42(1), pages 70-93.
    5. Davis, Kat Kleman & Davis, Jeffrey Sasha & Dowler, Lorraine, 2004. "In motion, out of place: the public space(s) of Tourette Syndrome," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 103-112, July.
    6. Irwin L Collier, 2005. "The ‘Welfare Standard’ and Soviet Consumers," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 47(2), pages 333-345, June.
    7. S. G. Wheatcroft & R. W. Davies & J. M. Cooper, 1986. "Soviet Industrialization Reconsidered: Some Preliminary Conclusions about Economic Development between 1926 and 1941," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 39(2), pages 264-294, May.
    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. Andrei Markevich & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2018. "The Economic Effects of the Abolition of Serfdom: Evidence from the Russian Empire," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(4-5), pages 1074-1117, April.
    2. Paul Castañeda Dower & Andrei Markevich, 2018. "Labor Misallocation and Mass Mobilization: Russian Agriculture during the Great War," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(2), pages 245-259, May.
    3. Prados de la Escosura, Leandro, 2019. "Human Development in the Age of Globalisation," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 421, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    4. Chernina, Eugenia & Castañeda Dower, Paul & Markevich, Andrei, 2014. "Property rights, land liquidity, and internal migration," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 191-215.
    5. Paul Castaneda Dower & Andrei Markevich, 2013. "Labor Surplus and Mass Mobilization: Russian Agriculture during the Great War," Working Papers w0196, New Economic School (NES).
    6. Harrison, Mark, 2017. "The Soviet Economy, 1917-1991 : Its Life and Afterlife," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1137, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    7. Guriev, Sergei & Tsyvinski, Aleh & Golosov, Mikhail & Cheremukhin, Anton, 2013. "Was Stalin Necessary for Russia?s Economic Development?," CEPR Discussion Papers 9669, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Jutta Bolt & Jan Luiten Zanden, 2014. "The Maddison Project: collaborative research on historical national accounts," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 67(3), pages 627-651, August.
    9. Lindert, Peter H. & Nafziger, Steven, 2014. "Russian Inequality on the Eve of Revolution," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(3), pages 767-798, September.
    10. Broadberry, Stephen & Korchmina, Elena, 2024. "Catching-Up and Falling Behind: Russian Economic Growth, 1690s–1880s," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 84(4), pages 997-1028, December.
    11. Leandro Prados de la Escosura, 2015. "World Human Development: 1870–2007," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 61(2), pages 220-247, June.
    12. Michel Fouquin & Jules Hugot, 2016. "Two Centuries of Bilateral Trade and Gravity data: 1827-2014," Vniversitas Económica, Universidad Javeriana - Bogotá, vol. 0(0), pages 1-39, August.
    13. Miller, Marcus & Smith, Jennifer C., 2015. "In the shadow of the Gulag: Worker discipline under Stalin," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 531-548.
    14. repec:cge:wacage:2018 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Bessolitsyn, Alexander A. (Бессолицын, Александр), 2018. "Private Business and Revolution (on the Economic Reasons of the Events of February 1917 in Russia) [Частный Бизнес И Революция (К Вопросу Об Экономических Причинах Февраля 1917 Года В России)]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 1, pages 234-251, February.
    16. Sabine Eckhardt & Ignacio Pisso & Nikolaos Evangeliou & Christine Groot Zwaaftink & Andreas Plach & Joseph R. McConnell & Michael Sigl & Meri Ruppel & Christian Zdanowicz & Saehee Lim & Nathan Chellma, 2023. "Revised historical Northern Hemisphere black carbon emissions based on inverse modeling of ice core records," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    17. Smirnov, Sergey, 2015. "Economic Fluctuations in Russia (from the late 1920s to 2015)," Russian Journal of Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(2), pages 130-153.
    18. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/382e4c7la19qb8m0mtvar753ei is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Natalya Naumenko, 2024. "Economic Consequences of the 1933 Soviet Famine," Working Papers 0270, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    20. Federico, Giovanni, 2025. "World Population 1800-1938," IFCS - Working Papers in Economic History.WH 45843, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Instituto Figuerola.
    21. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/382e4c7la19qb8m0mtvar753ei is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Dubrovskaya, Yu. & Belonogov, Yu. & Kozonogova, E., 2023. "Evaluation of the effectiveness of administrative-territorial transformations in Russia," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 58(1), pages 89-108.
    23. Steven Nafziger & Peter Lindert, 2011. "Russian Inequality on the Eve of Revolution," Department of Economics Working Papers 2013-13, Department of Economics, Williams College, revised Sep 2013.
    24. repec:cte:whrepe:wp13-01 is not listed on IDEAS

    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. Lein-Lein Chen & John Devereux, 2017. "The Iron Rice Bowl: Chinese Living Standards 1952–1978," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 59(3), pages 261-310, September.
    2. Ofer, Gur, 2010. "Twenty Years Later and the Socialist Heritage is still Kicking: the Case of Russia," WIDER Working Paper Series 059, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Paulina Broniatowska & Paweł Strawiński, 2021. "Foreign- and domestic firm ownership and its impact on wages. Evidence from Poland," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 27(4), pages 445-466, December.
    4. Sergey V. Smirnov & Nikolay V. Kondrashov & Anna V. Petronevich, 2017. "Dating Cyclical Turning Points for Russia: Formal Methods and Informal Choices," Journal of Business Cycle Research, Springer;Centre for International Research on Economic Tendency Surveys (CIRET), vol. 13(1), pages 53-73, May.
    5. T. P. Barbiero & A. A. Brown, 1991. "The Role of Agriculture in Industrial Development Symbiotic vs. Parasitic Relationship," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 35(1), pages 21-29, March.
    6. Deng, Kent & Shen, Jim Huangnan, 2019. "From state resource allocation to a 'low-level equilibrium trap': re-evaluation of economic performance of Mao's China, 1949-78," Economic History Working Papers 101127, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    7. John S. Earle & Solomiya Shpak, 2019. "Impact of privatization on employment and earnings," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-93, June.
    8. Ferrero, Mario, 2001. "Political exchange in mass party regimes and the transition from socialism," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 365-379, December.
    9. Stepan Jurajda & Juraj Stancik, 2012. "Foreign Ownership and Corporate Performance: The Czech Republic at EU Entry," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 62(4), pages 306-324, August.
    10. Deng, Kent & Shen, Jim Huangnan & Guo, Jingyuan, 2022. "Performance and mechanisms of the Maoist economy: a holistic approach, 1950-1980," Economic History Working Papers 116401, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    11. Hang Gao & Joseph Marchand & Tao Song, 2013. "The Supply and Demand Factors Behind the Relative Earnings Increases in Urban China at the Turn of the 21st Century," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 55(1), pages 121-143, March.
    12. Koren, Miklós & Csillag, Márton, 2011. "Machines and machinists: Capital-skill complementarity from an international trade perspective," CEPR Discussion Papers 8317, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Peter J. Boettke, 2003. "Milton and Rose Friedman's \"Free to Choose\" and its impact in the global movement toward free market policy: 1979-2003," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, issue Oct, pages 137-152.
    14. repec:dgr:rugggd:199729 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Figueiredo, Adelaide & Figueiredo, Fernanda & Monteiro, Natália P. & Straume, Odd Rune, 2012. "Restructuring in privatised firms: A Statis approach," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 108-116.
    16. Akhabbar, Amanar, 2013. "La Direction centrale de la statistique et la Balance de l’économie nationale de l’URSS en 1923—24 [The Central Statistical Administration and the Balance of the National Economy of the USSR, 1923—," MPRA Paper 61762, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Allen, Steven G, 1992. "Changes in the Cyclical Sensitivity of Wages in the United States, 1891-1987," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(1), pages 122-140, March.
    18. Levy, David M. & Peart, Sandra J., 2011. "Soviet growth and American textbooks: An endogenous past," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 110-125.
    19. Deng, Kent, 2000. "Great leaps backward: poverty under Mao," Economic History Working Papers 652, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    20. Torbjörn Becker & Anders Olofsgård, 2018. "From abnormal to normal : Two tales of growth from 25 years of transition," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 26(4), pages 769-800, October.
    21. Dumitriu, Ramona & Stefanescu, Răzvan, 2016. "Strategic decisions on industrialization: case of Galati Steel Works," MPRA Paper 89007, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2016.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Civil War; GDP; Russia; Soviet Union; World War I;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E20 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • N14 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N44 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: 1913-
    • O52 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Europe

    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:abo:neswpt:w0146. 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: Vladimir Ivanyukhin The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask Vladimir Ivanyukhin to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nerasru.html .

    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.