Regional Patterns of Agricultural Reform in Russia

Abstract

This paper analyzes the results of the first period of agricultural reform in Russia (1991-1993) by examining the patterns of peasant farms and of the reorganization of state and collective farms across 74 oblast-level regions. It also relates socioeconomic variables, agricultural productivity, capital investment and other agricultural inputs, and environmental factors to indices of agricultural reform to determine the main causes of variation in agricultural reform among the oblasts. The results are extremely complex, with reform indicators relating to peasant farms showing very different patterns of change from indica-tors describing the reorganization of collective and state farms. 9 figures, 2 tables, 46 references.