Tsarist Business: State-owned Enterprises in the Late Russian Empire

Abstract:The role of the state in the industrialization of the late Russian Empire has been a recurrent topic in historiography. Scholars have studied certain segments of state-owned entrepreneurship but have not taken a holistic approach to enterprises run or controlled by central or local government. This article draws on statistical yearbooks and other primary sources to address this gap in scholarship. It demonstrates that while Tsarist Russia had a diverse public sector, it employed no more than 10 percent of all economically active workers in all areas apart from public administration, the military, education, human health, and social work. The government kept certain enterprises in its ownership for various reasons, such as fiscal correction, regional development, and defense. Although the economic footprint of the state was considerable, there is no evidence that its role was significantly more prominent in the Russian case than elsewhere in Europe. The financial performance of most state-owned enterprises was poor; they were less efficient than their European counterparts and compared to private enterprises with a similar profile operating in Russia.