Subjective Well-being of Rural Dwellers in Russia: Factors and Their Significance

  • Valeriy Saraykin
  • Yulia Nikulina
  • Renata Yanbukh
Keywords: subjective well-being, life satisfaction, rural areas, rural development policy, employment, person's economic condition, factor analysis

Abstract

The traditional policy of rural development in Russia has focused on bridging the gap between urban and rural areas by improving infrastructure and settlements in rural areas, but has not taken into account the perspectives and priorities of rural dwellers regarding their lives. Using data from The Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey from 2012 to 2019, this study seeks to understand rural residents’ priorities for rural development by analyzing their assessments of their own wellbeing and the factors that influence it. The study uses data discrimination form factor analysis to obtain multicomponent regressors; a logit model is constructed to determine the significance of selected factors. The study finds that factors such as health, education, person's economic condition, and availability of utilities in the house have a significant positive impact on rural residents’ life satisfaction. However, the most dominant factor is “job satisfaction”, which includes the attitude of rural residents to (1) pay and working conditions and (2) opportunities for professional growth. The study also finds, unexpectedly, a nonlinear impact of economic condition on life satisfaction in rural areas, and a decrease in income returns. Additionally, the study identifies a group of rural residents who despite having minimal material goods, evaluate their lives as quite satisfactory. The study concludes by suggesting adjustments to the funding structure of the State Program “Integrated Rural Development” by increasing funding for measures to promote rural employment and expanding the focus to the non-agricultural sector of the rural economy.

Author Biographies

Valeriy Saraykin

Doctor of Science (in Economics), researcher, Institute for Agrarian Studies, HSE University. Address: 11, Pokrovsky Bulvar, 109028, Moscow, Russian Federation.

Yulia Nikulina

Candidate of Science (in Economics), researcher, Institute for Agrarian Studies, HSE University. Address: 11, Pokrovsky Bulvar, 109028, Moscow, Russian Federation. Senior researcher, Institute of Agricultural Economics 
and Rural Development, St Petersburg Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Address: 7, Podbelskogo hwy, 196608, St. Petersburg, Pushkin, Russian Federation.

Renata Yanbukh

Doctor of Science (in Economics), Head of Agrarian Policy Department of the Institute for Agrarian Studies, HSE
University. Address: 11, Pokrovsky Bulvar, 109028, Moscow, Russian Federation.

Published
2023-02-01
How to Cite
SaraykinV., NikulinaY., & YanbukhR. (2023). Subjective Well-being of Rural Dwellers in Russia: Factors and Their Significance. Journal of Economic Sociology, 24(1), 71-105. Retrieved from https://vo.hse.ru/index.php/ecsoc/article/view/16804
Section
Beyond Borders