Oil and gas:a blessing for the few. Hydrocarbons and inequality within regions in Russia

Building on earlier work on regional inequality in Russia the article seeks to demonstrate that the regional oil and gas abundance is associated with high within-region inequality. It provides empirical evidence that hydrocarbons represent one of the leading determinants of an increased gap between rich and poor in the producing regions. The discussion focuses on a possible cluster of geographic, economic and political factors underlying the phenomenon.

Oil and gas:a blessing for few hydrocarbons and within-region inequality in Russia

Building on earlier work on regional inequality in Russia (Fedorov 2002; Gaddy and Ickes 2005; Bradshaw 2006 and others) we investigate a novel line of research, i.e. to demonstrate that the regional oil and gas abundance is associated with high within-region inequality. We show empirically that hydrocarbons represent one of the leading determinants of an increased gap between rich and poor in the producing regions. We discuss a possible cluster of geographic, economic and political factors underlying the phenomenon.