No abstract

Introduction. Industrial development of Russia in the first half of the XIX century characterized by the existence of various forms and methods of labour organization in the industrial production system. The owners of large enterprises used different practices of attracting labour force, which gave rise to socio-economic and legal heterogeneity of workers. The article considers the importance of compulsory forms of labour organization, which played a significant role in Russian industry until the early 1860s. Materials and Methods. When solving the set research tasks, materials from the funds of federal and regional archives, published sources, as well as scientific literature were used. To analyze the nature and direction of the processes taking place in the industry of serf Russia, the modernization theory was used. The need to process a significant array of quantitative data required the use of a statistical method. Results. Based on the study of archival and published sources, as well as the available scientific literature on the topic, the main categories of workers employed in the industry of the Middle Volga region within the boundaries of the Kazan, Penza and Simbirsk provinces were identified, their quantitative analysis was carried out, and some parameters were considered that show the specifics of their social-economic and legal situation. The study showed that the army of forced labor in the industrial sphere of the region in question was represented mainly by possessive workers, as well as serfs, who were reoriented to industrial labor by their owners. During the implementation of the research program, the conclusion was drawn: despite the growth in the use of hired labour in domestic industry in the first half of the 19th century, the Middle Volga region remained one of the regions where the practice of using forced labour in industrial enterprises not only persisted, but also intensified. Discussion and Conclusion. As the study shows, the dynamics of the change in the ratio of forced and civilian labour was multidirectional. In particular, in the industry of the Kazan province, the prevalence of civilian workers was noted, the proportion of which steadily increased throughout the period under study. On the contrary, with regard to the Penza and Simbirsk provinces, there was an increase in the use of forced labor, which was associated with the intensification of industrial entrepreneurship of the nobles. In the sectoral plan, the most active use of serf labor in industry was recorded in the cloth and distillery industries. It should be noted that in the second quarter of the XIX century the practice of using monetary forms of payment by industrial nobles for the labour of their own serfs. In the Kazan province, forced labour was represented mainly by the possessory workers of the Kazan cloth factory. By the early 1850s they were removed from the system of “possession law” and passed into the free estates. The presence of possessional workers was also recorded at metallurgical plants in the Penza province, which continued to remain on the “possession rights” until the early 1860s. In general, we can conclude that a specific feature of Russian industry in the pre-reform period was the extreme limitation of the “legal” free labor market, which led to the preservation of a large role for compulsory forms of labor organization.

The article attempts to consider the influence of the family principle on property relations, the management system and the functioning of industrial business in the process of transition of an individual-private enterprise into a joint-stock format. The solution of this problem was carried out on the example of one of the largest joint-stock companies in the Middle Volga region “Commercial and industrial company of Alafuzov factories and plants”. The authors also examines participation of the state in resolving contradictions between representatives of the “founding family” and third-party shareholders is considered separately. The study draws upon scientific literature, published sources, archival materials, which were first introduced into scientific circulation. Conceptually, the study is based on the following provisions. On the one hand, the informal rules developed during the functioning of the family institution had a significant impact on business relations, bringing their own specifics into the organization of Russian business. On the other hand, the new realities of a market economy with a rather pronounced focus on industrialism set their own rules of the game, forcing entrepreneurs who realized their economic interests in the format of a family business to take account of the formal restrictions and laws of a rapidly complicating market. It is shown that the increase in the number of business relations actors observed during the transition to associated forms of entrepreneurship due to the inclusion of third parties in the family business created the need to maintain a balance of individual and group interests, led to the interaction of informal and formal rules, giving rise to a very colorful and mosaic picture of joint-stock companies’ activity.

Introduction. The article is devoted to the consideration of changes which took place in the system of remuneration for work in the patrimonial industry of Russia in the first half of the XIX century. The methods of mobilizing of workers for industrial enterprises are considered, the value of the monetary form of payment for different categories of workers is characterized. The methods of labor stimulation applied by noblemen-industrialists with a view of increase of labor activity of workers and increase in labor productivity are investigated. Methods and Materials. When solving the set research tasks, materials from the funds of federal and regional archives, published sources, as well as scientific literature were used. To analyze the nature and direction of the processes that took place in the industry of serf Russia, the modernization theory was applied. When processing quantitative data, a statistical method was used, and for a more detailed immersion in the subject of the study, a micro-historical approach was applied. Results. The conducted research showed that capitalist experiments at the patrimonial enterprises of the Middle Volga region, connected with increasingly firmly established industry in the first half of the XIX century the tradition of applying monetary forms of labor for their own serf and household people, was used by many noble entrepreneurs in their industrial manufactures. The monetary forms of remuneration were methods of intensifying forced labor and were aimed at increasing the profitability of the patrimonial enterprises. Discussion and Conclusion. In the patrimonial industry of the Middle Volga region in the first half of the XIX century, the use of labor of serfs and household people was gradually transferred to a commercial basis, and only serfs were employed in the form of corvee labor for auxiliary servicing. While maintaining the connection with the land and legal dependence on the owner, the position of the working patrimonial manufactory acquired a dual character: on the one hand, elements of contractual employment relations were present on a market basis, and on the other, feudal features of forced recruitment were preserved. The statistical analysis of payroll data in patrimonial factories, mainly cloth, revealed significant differences in its size, depending on gender, age, professional specialization and skill level of workers. But in general, the size of the monetary payment of labor remained rather low. The absence of any formally fixed rates often allowed the factory owners, at their own discretion, to evaluate certain types of labor, and on this basis to compile the wage pay tables for industrial workers, the vast majority of whom were also in a state of non-economic coercion.

No abstract