Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics
Lund Papers in Economic History,
Lund University, Department of Economic History
No 274: Beneath the surface. Tracing the historical roots of Russia’s resource dependence (1880-2022)
Aleksandra Parshina () and Cristián Ducoing ()
Additional contact information
Aleksandra Parshina: Department of Economics - INARBE, Public University of Navarre, Postal: Department of Economics - INARBE, Public University of Navarre, Calle Tajonar, 22, Postal Code & City: 31006 Pamplona, Navarra, Spain
Cristián Ducoing: Department of Economic History, Lund University, Postal: Department of Economic History, Lund University, Box 7083, S-220 07 Lund, Sweden
Abstract: This article revisits the emergence and evolution of resource dependence in Russia from an economic history perspective. Using a novel database tracing the country’s production and exports of non-renewables, the authors argue that the Soviet oil-based growth model and the foundations of the economy’s dependence on hydrocarbons had already been laid in the 1950s, before the oil crises of the 1970s, which are commonly assumed both as the starting point of resource dependence and as the main trigger behind its emergence. Today, as Russia’s oil-dependent economy faces renewed scrutiny amid sanctions and volatility of oil prices, a coherent historical account of when this dependence emerged and how its trajectory evolved is essential to understand the origins of the country’s present vulnerabilities.
Keywords: Russian economic history; resource dependence; hydrocarbons; Soviet growth model
Language: English
53 pages, September 28, 2026
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