Monday, 16 November, 2020 | 16:00 | Applied Micro Research Seminar | ONLINE

Natalya Naumenko, Ph.D. (George Mason U) “The Political Economy Causes of the Soviet Great Famine, 1932–33”

Natalya Naumenko, Ph.D.     

George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA

Join at Lifesize: https://call.lifesizecloud.com/6273584

________________________________________

Authors: Andrei Markevich, Nancy Qian, Natalya Naumenko

Abstract: We document several new facts about the Soviet Great Famine, 1932–33. First, there was no aggregate food shortage. Second, mortality rates were highly unequal across regions. Third, mortality rates were unrelated to regional per capita food production but positively associated with Ukrainian population share, even after controlling for weather, contemporaneous food production, demographic and pre-famine political differences. Finally, political loyalty to Stalin was positively associated with famine mortality and collectivization intensity, but only in regions where ethnic Ukrainians resided. Our estimates imply that ethnic bias against Ukrainians in Soviet policies explains 77% of famine deaths in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, and 92% in Ukraine.

JEL codes: N4, P2

Keywords: Strategic Killing, Economic History, Political Economy, Ethnic Bias
________________________________________
Full Text: The full text will be available later.