Spatial Analysis of Market Economy Innovations in the Former Soviet Union: The Case of Commodity Exchanges.

摘要

The ongoing transfer to a market economy in a splintered Soviet Union is exposing the regional inequalities in the land. Though the central command causing the inequalities has disintegrated, the new Republics cannot dissolve the economic legacies it has left them. In this paper, I test the Hypothesis of equal, spatial development of market economy innovations in the 148 provinces of the former Soviet Union. The hypothesis is tested using data on five specific market economy innovations of the last 4 years, namely (1) State-owned foreign trade businesses, (2) Significant Cooperatives engaging in foreign trade, (3) Significant Joint Ventures, (4) Foreign Trade Associations, and most importantly, (5) Active Commodity Exchanges. Spatial analysis of the diffusion of commodity exchanges plays a substantial part of this paper, as it is the most recent market experiment and provides a glimpse into the continued existence of regional inequalities.