Growth in post-Soviet Russia: A tale of two transitions

► Small-scale entrepreneurial activity is a strong engine of growth in the early stages of post-Soviet Russia's economic transition. ► Emergence of bank-issued credit, virtually non-existent outside of Moscow prior to 2000, has been an important engine of growth since 2000. ► The fact that the emergence of bank-issued credit has lagged in regions that have tended to resist the adoption of market reform suggests that the de facto political and economic influence of the regional Communist party is persistent in certain Russian regions. In the early stages of post-Soviet Russia's economic transition, small-scale entrepreneurial activity appeared to be a strong engine of growth. Moreover, striking regional variations in initial conditions and adopted policy reforms appeared useful in accounting statistically for observed regional variations in entrepreneurial activity. Here, we investigate whether these relationships have persisted as Russia's transition has continued to evolve, and find that they have not. We then document that the emergence of bank-issued credit, virtually non-existent outside of Moscow prior to 2000, has been an important engine of growth since 2000. Thus to date, Russia's post-Soviet development appears as a tale of two distinct transition paths.