Oligarchs, Political Ties and Nomenklatura Capitalism: Introducing a New Dataset

Marandici, Ion (2024): Oligarchs, Political Ties and Nomenklatura Capitalism: Introducing a New Dataset. Published in: Europe-Asia Studies (2024)

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between nomenklatura membership, wealth accumulation and political ties across the post-Soviet region from the 1990s up to the mid-2010s. It introduces the Post-Soviet Oligarchs (PSO) dataset, containing the sociodemographic characteristics of the super-rich across the former Soviet republics. While the article finds partial support in favour of the nomenklatura capitalism hypothesis, statistical analysis also points to distinct regional patterns of wealth and political inequality. Thus, the most extensive overlap of wealth and power is observed in the authoritarian regimes of Central Asia and the South Caucasus, where ties to the Soviet regime facilitated the exertion of political influence after 1991, enabling in turn wealth accumulation. By contrast, in democratising contexts, the connections between politicians and super-rich point to a mutually dependent relationship between the economic and political realms, with wealth featuring as a major power resource.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: oligarchs; nomenklatura capitalism; wealthy elites; post-Soviet region; democracy; wealth inequality; authoritarianism; economic transition; billionaires
• Subjects: N - Economic History > N0 - General > N00 - General; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development; P - Economic Systems > P2 - Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies; P - Economic Systems > P2 - Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies > P20 - General; P - Economic Systems > P2 - Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies > P26 - Political Economy ; Property Rights; P - Economic Systems > P3 - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions > P31 - Socialist Enterprises and Their Transitions; P - Economic Systems > P3 - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions > P36 - Consumer Economics ; Health ; Education and Training ; Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty; P - Economic Systems > P4 - Other Economic Systems > P48 - Political Economy ; Legal Institutions ; Property Rights ; Natural Resources ; Energy ; Environment ; Regional Studies; P - Economic Systems > P5 - Comparative Economic Systems > P52 - Comparative Studies of Particular Economies; Y - Miscellaneous Categories > Y1 - Data: Tables and Charts > Y10 - Data: Tables and Charts

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