Kaldor's facts and the development of the Russian economy in 1990-2023

This bachelor's thesis examines the validity of Kaldor's five ‘stylized facts’ about the long-run economic growth of the Russian economy over the period 1990-2023. It finds that only three of the five facts tested (GDP and capital per worker growth and the stability of the rate of return on capital) are consistent with the Russian economy, while the stability of factor shares and the stability of capital-to-GDP ratio are not observed. According to the proposed interpretation, in the first case, this may be due to the transition Russia has been undergoing since the 1990s, the role of resource rents on capital share fluctuations, and the weak position of workers in the labour market. In the case of the capital share of output, there has been a decline in the growth rate of employment and a reduction in total factor productivity since the end of the first decade of the 21st century, leading to an increase in the role of capital in the Russian economy. These findings point to the importance of examining the relationship between the commodity nature of the Russian economy, capital growth and its share of GDP, as well as examining the nature and causes of the economic slowdown in Russia.