Social structure and development: A legacy of the holocaust in Russia

Abstract

Wedocument a statistical associationbetweenthe severityof thepersecution, displacement and mass murder of Jews by the Nazis during World War II and long-run economic and political outcomes within Russia. Cities that experienced theHolocaustmost intensely have grown less, and both cities and administrative districts (oblasts)wheretheHolocausthadthelargest impacthaveworseeconomic andpolitical outcomes since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Weprovide evidence that the lasting impact of the Holocaust may be attributable to a permanent change it induced in the social structure across different regions of Russia. © The Author(s) 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved.