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Cambridge Journal of Economics Advance Access published online on January 3, 2008
Cambridge Journal of Economics, doi:10.1093/cje/bem052
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved.

The great divide: ‘ruralisation’ of poverty in Russia

Christopher J. Gerry, Eugene Nivorozhkin and John A. Rigg*

* University College London, UK; University College London, UK; and London School of Economics, respectively

Address for correspondence: Christopher J. Gerry, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK. E-mail: c.gerry{at}ucl.ac.uk

Using data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey for the period 2000–2004 we investigate poverty trends in Russia. We find that urban poverty declines at twice the rate of rural poverty so that by 2004 poverty in Russia had become a largely rural phenomenon for the first time since transition began. This finding does not stem from changing population characteristics or shares, is not dependent on the use of a particular poverty line nor is it driven by the rapid expansions that have occurred in Moscow, St Petersburg or other urban areas. Our findings flesh out those of Ravallion and colleagues, who, in contrast to other regions, ‘find signs’ of a ruralisation of poverty in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. We attribute some of the differential to the labour market.

Key Words: Russia • Poverty • Urban • Rural • RLMS

JEL classifications: I31, I32, P25, P46, O18

Manuscript received April 30, 2007; final version received November 5, 2007.


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