Authors : Lubos Smutka, Mansoor Maitah and Natalia Ishchukova
Abstract: The main aim of this study is to identify the impact of agricultural sector’s transformation process on rural population in Russia and to specify the key factors affecting the process of rural population development and rural population transfer into urban areas. In this case, the study is identifying the main differences existing between Russian rural sector development and other countries and regions development. The mentioned ambitions/aims are realized through hypothesis testing. The results coming from the analyses are as follow. The basic trends influencing Russian rural population trend development is very similar to trend existing in developed countries. However, Russia is considered to be transitional economy. There was not discovered any correlation existing between the absolute value of agricultural production performance and rural populations. The decline of the rural population is the result of agricultural sector’s transformation and the significant impact on rural population development has also the decline of agricultural sector’s importance within the national economy. There was confirmed a direct relationship and high correlation between employment in agriculture and rural population, despite the fact that the decline in employment in agriculture occurred much faster than the decrease in the rural population. Among the reasons which can explain differences in the development of Russian rural population from the global trends are administrative reorganizations, development of household plots instead of big collective farms, differences in the development of particular regions and migration between regions, natural decline in the urban population, migration from the former Soviet republics and blurred boundaries between rural and urban populations.
Lubos Smutka, Mansoor Maitah and Natalia Ishchukova, 2015. Russian Rural Population Development in Relation to Agricultural Sector Transformation. International Business Management, 9: 492-497.