Human capital and industrialization: German settlers in late imperial Russia

Arbeitspapier

Between 1890 and 1913, Russian Empire experienced a rapid transition to an industrial economy, catching up with Western countries. Using accidental elements in German settlement locations in Russia 1763-1861, the paper estimates the effects of the more educated Germans in Russia's industrial transition in 1890-1913. I demonstrate that German settlers had significant external benefits in their regions through improved schooling infrastructure and increased literacy among the local population. Educational benefits translated into a higher share of industrial occupations, per-capita local expenditures and urbanization by 1897. I also find a positive impact of education on productivity, mainly in industries that experienced technological transformation and had higher human capital requirements. Furthermore, panel estimates reveal that German areas experienced a higher industrial growth only after 1890 with the adaption of more progressive technologies. Finally, I find no evidence supporting alternative explanations of the German impact: increased agricultural productivity, lower exposure to serfdom, demographic transition or changes in landownership structure.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: EHES Working Paper ; No. 221

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Economic History: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations: Europe: 1913- ; Education and Economic Development ; Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
• Subject: Human capital ; Russian economic history ; Industrialization

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Malein, Viktor
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): European Historical Economics Society (EHES)
• (where): s.l.
• (when): 2021

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/253735
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET