Using national income data, we estimate levels and identify trends in the general rate of return in Russia from 1994 to 2002. Endogenous distributional and efficiency determinants of profitability are discussed in the Marxian analytical framework. We find that in spite of the major decline in output, the average rate of profit in Russia during the transition period was relatively high. This is primarily explained by the high level of the rate of surplus value (rate of exploitation), which was estimated to be 1.5-2 times as high as comparable estimates for the United States. In view of problems with data for profits and capital in Russia, we consider our estimates as only tentative indicators of the underlying trends and levels of profitability in the Russian economy.
Aghion, P., and S. Commander. 1999. On the dynamics of inequality in the transition. Economics of Transition7 (2): 275–298.
2.
Alexeev, M.1999. The effect of privatization on wealth distribution in Russia. Economics of Transition7 (2): 120–131.
3.
Araquém da Silva, E., and J.-L. Rosinger. 1992. Prices, wages and profits in Brazil: An input-output analysis. In International perspectives on profitability and accumulation on capital, ed. F. Moseley and E. Wolff, 155–173. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.
4.
Blasi, J. R., M. Kroumova, and D. Kruse. 1997. Kremlin capitalism: Privatizing the Russian economy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
5.
Bowles, S., D. M. Gordon, and T. E. Weisskopf. 1986. Power and profits: Social structure of accumulation and the profitability of the postwar U.S. economy. Review of Radical Political Economics18 (1/2): 132–167.
6.
Boycko, M., A. Shleifer, and R. Vishny. 1996. Privatizing Russia. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
7.
Buiter, W. H.2000. From predation to accumulation?Economics of Transition8 (3): 603–622.
8.
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). n.d. Table 8-14. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce. http://w3.access.gpo.gov/usbudget/fy2004/.
9.
Clarke, S., and V. Borisov. 1999. New forms of labor contract and labor flexibility in Russia. Economics of Transition7 (3): 593–614.
10.
Darvas, Z. M., and A. Simon. 2000. Capital stock and economic development in Hungary. Economics of Transition8 (1): 197–223.
11.
Djilas, M.[1957] 1982. The new class: An analysis of the communist system. New York: Harcourt.
12.
Duménil, G., and D. Lévy. 1993. The economics of the profit rate: Competition, crises, and historical tendencies in capitalism. Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar.
13.
Duménil, G., and D. Lévy. 2002a. The field of capital mobility and the gravitation of profit rates (USA 1948-2000). Review of Radical Political Economics34 (4): 417–436.
14.
Duménil, G., and D. Lévy. 2002b. The profit rate: Where and how much did it fall? Did it recover? (USA 1948-2000). Review of Radical Political Economics34 (4): 437–461.
15.
Easterly, W., and S. Fischer. 1995. The Soviet economic decline. World Bank Economic Review9 (3): 341–372.
16.
Ellman, M.2000. The social costs and consequences of the transformation process. Economic Survey of Europe (2/3): 125–145.
17.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Annual, various years. Transition report. London: EBRD.
18.
Fan, C. S., J. Overland, and M. Spagat. 1999. Human capital, growth, and inequality in Russia. Journal of Comparative Economics27: 618–643.
19.
Ferreira, F. H. G.1999. Economic transition and the distribution of income and wealth. Economics of Transition7 (2): 377–410.
20.
Filer, R., and J. Hanousek. 2002. Data watch: Research data from transition economies. Journal of Economic Perspectives16 (1): 225–240.
21.
Goldman, M.2003. The piratization of Russia: Russian reform goes awry. New York: Routledge.
22.
Gordon, D. M.1978. Up and down the long roller coaster. In U.S. capitalism in crisis, ed. Union for Radical Political Economics, 22–35. New York: Union for Radical Political Economics.
23.
Gordon, D.1980. Stages of accumulation and long economic cycles. In Processes of the world system, ed. T. Hopkins and I. Wallerstein, 9–45. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
24.
Granville, B., and P. Oppenheimer, eds. 2001. Russia’s post-communist economy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hall, S. G., and O. Basdevant. 2002. Measuring the capital stock in Russia: An unobserved component model. Economics of Planning35 (4): 356–370.
27.
Hill, T. P.1979. Profits and rates of return. Paris: OECD.
28.
Human Development Report. 2001. Making new technologies work for human development. New York: Oxford University Press.
29.
Izyumov, A.1986. Pokazateli normy pribyli (Indicators of the rate of return on capital). Economic Sciences(5): 59–66.
30.
Izyumov, A.1988. Norma pribyli i ekonomika(The general rate of return in the United States). Moscow: Nauka.
31.
Jackman, R.1998. Unemployment and restructuring. In Emerging from communism: Lessons from Russia, China and Eastern Europe, ed. P. Boone, S. Gomulka, and R. Layard, 123–152. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
32.
Koen, V.1996. Russian macroeconomic data: Existence, access, interpretation. Communist Economies and Economic Transformation8 (3): 321–333.
33.
Kotz, D.2001. Is Russia becoming capitalist?Science and Society65 (2): 157–181.
34.
Kotz, D.2003. Neoliberalism and the social structure of accumulation: Theory of long-run capital accumulation. Review of Radical Political Economics35 (3): 263–271.
35.
Kushnirsky, F.2001. A modification of the production function for transition economies reflecting the role of institutional factors. Comparative Economic Studies42 (1): 1–30.
36.
Lacko, M.2000. Hidden economy: An unknown quantity?Economics of Transition8 (1): 117–149.
37.
Laibman, D.1996. Technical change, accumulation and the rate of profit revisited. Review of Radical Political Economics28 (2): 33–53.
38.
Lo, D.1999. Reappraising the performance of China’s state-owned industrial enterprises, 1980-1996. Cambridge Journal of Economics23: 693–718.
39.
Lushin, A., and P. Oppenheimer. 2001. External trade and payments. In Russia’s post-communist economy, ed. B. Granville and P. Oppenheimer, 261–300. New York: Oxford University Press.
40.
Marx, K.1967. Capital: A critical analysis of capitalist production. New York: International Publishers.
41.
McKinsey Global Institute. 1999. Unlocking economic growth in Russia. New York: McKinsey & Company. http://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/publications/russia.asp.
Moseley, F.1988. The rate of surplus value, the organic composition, and the general rate of profit in the U.S. economy, 1947-67: A critique and update of Wolff’s estimates. American Economic Review78 (1): 298–303.
44.
Moseley, F.1990. The decline of the rate of profit in the postwar U.S. economy: An alternative Marxian explanation. Review of Radical Political Economics22 (2/3): 17–37.
45.
Moseley, F.2000. The rate of profit and the future of capitalism. Review of Radical Political Economics29 (4): 23–41.
46.
Moseley, F., and E. N. Wolff, eds. 1992. International perspective on profitability and accumulation. New Directions in Modern Economics. Hants, UK: Edward Elgar.
47.
Ochoa, E. M.1992. Structural change and the movement of the rate of profit in the U.S.A. In International perspectives on profitability and accumulation on capital, ed. F. Moseley and E. Wolff, 122–153. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.
48.
Popov, V.1999. Investment, restructuring and performance in transitional economies. Post-Communist Economies11 (4): 445–462.
49.
Roland, G.2000. Transition and economics: Politics, firms, markets. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
50.
Roland, G.2002. The political economy of transition. Journal of Economic Perspectives16 (1): 29–50.
51.
Rosser, M. V., B. Rosser Jr., and E. Ahmed. 2000. Income inequality and the informal economy in transition economies. Journal of Comparative Economics28: 156–171.
52.
Russian Academy of Sciences. 2003. Russian economic barometer. Moscow: The Institute of World Economy and International Relations.
53.
Sapir, J.2001. The Russian economy: From rebound to rebuilding. Post-Soviet Affairs17 (1): 1–22.
54.
Schnider, F., and D. Enste. 2000. Shadow economies: Size, causes and consequences. Journal of Economic Literature38 (March): 77–114.
55.
State Committee for Statistics. Various years. Rossiiskii Statisticheskii Ezhegodnik(Russian statistical year-book). Moscow: State Committee for Statistics.
56.
Statistics of Russia. 2003. Goskomstat electronic database. http://www.infostat.ru/epub.htm.
57.
Svejnar, J.2002. Transition economies: Performance and challenges. Journal of Economic Perspectives16 (1): 3–28.
58.
Voslensky, M.1992. Nomenclatura: The Soviet ruling class. New York: Westview.
59.
Weisskopf, T. E.1979. Marxian crisis theory and the rate of profit in the postwar U.S. economy. Cambridge Journal of Economics3: 341–378.
60.
Wolff, E. N.1975. The rate of surplus value in Puerto Rico. Journal of Political Economy83 (5): 935–950.
61.
Wolff, E. N.1979. The rate of surplus value, the organic composition, and the general rate of profit in the U.S. economy, 1947-67. American Economic Review69: 329–341.
62.
Wolff, E. N.1986. The productivity slowdown and the fall in the U.S. rate of profit, 1947-76. Review of Radical Political Economics18 (1/2): 87–109.
63.
Wolff, E. N.2001. The recent rise of profits in the United States. Review of Radical Political Economics33: 315–324.
64.
Wolfson, M. H.2003. Neoliberalism and the social structure of accumulation. Review of Radical Political Economics35 (3): 255–262.
65.
World Bank. 2002. Transition: The first ten years: Analysis and lessons for Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Washington, DC: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank. http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/ECA/eca.nsf/Attachments/Transition1/$File/complete.pdf.
