Agricultural Support in Russia from the Political Economy Perspective

Abstract

The contribution summarizes two research papers that examine the mechanisms of Russian agriculture subsidization considering the incentives of the key stakeholders involved. We first put Russian agricultural support in an international context, briefly comparing it with the EU's Common Agricultural Policy and other countries' support systems. Then, using a unique dataset from the Russian Ministry of Agriculture and drawing on the political economy literature, we map the incentives of regional and federal governments in the distribution of targeted subsidies among the Russian regions. Results suggest that similar to the US and the EU, the regional and federal levels of the Russian government not only seek to boost agricultural development but also see subsidies as a tool for pursuing political goals. We conclude by discussing the implications of these results and the corresponding policy options.