International Comparisons of Population Mobility in Russia

Abstract

The population of Russia is regarded as being quite immobile compared to other countries. There have been some recent methodological advances and new datasets on internal migration which make cross-national comparisons, though these do not extend to Russia. This paper adds comparisons of levels of mobility in Russia with other countries. The study finds that the population of Russia is not significantly less mobile than other large countries and that part of the myth of immobility stems from a deterioration of the migration registration system in the post-Soviet period. There are inconsistencies between lifetime mobility derived from population censuses and annual mobility from a population register which originated during the central-planning period. Given changes in the economic structure at both national and regional levels during the period of economic transition, migration theory predicted significant migration movements, and it seems as if many were not captured by the statistical system.

Assessing landscape potential for human sustainability and ‘attractiveness’ across Asian Russia in a warmer 21st century

“…Based on ongoing climate change and these favorable ELP predictions, one can expect a positive migration to Asian Russia. In contrast, sociologists and economists predict a slight population decrease or immigration from Asian Russia, based on current statistical population mobility analyses (Heleniak 1999, 2008, 2012, Vishnevsky 2000. This is one of the reasons this work is critical, both to incite the conversation and to highlight the potential for landscape transformations with changes in climate, which will increase the appeal of Asian Russia.…”

Demographic and economic disparities among Arctic regions

“…Even though since the collapse of the Soviet Union out-migration from the Arctic has increased (Heleniak 2007) the connectivity of the road system still exists as do several residents (Heleniak 2012).…”

“…The same is the case for the two Russian regions with Yamal having rich oil and gas resources and Murmansk extensive road and railway access. Increased resource extraction, coupled with road and market access and highly mobile residents (Heleniak 2012), could cause economic expansion in some Arctic regions, attracting people from the south but also possibly from other Arctic regions (within the same country), which would then experience a decline.…”

Export of Educational Services as a Component of University Leadership in the Innovation Field

“…The reason for this (among other reasons) is the inability to get a job according to the education received in their region. At the same time, residents of regions are reluctant to change their place of residence (Heleniak 2012). However, many of these specialists received additional postgraduate education in accordance with their work.…”