To Farm or Not to Farm: Rural Dilemma in Russia and Ukraine

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Abstract
Employing primary data collected in the summer of 1991 in a representative survey of two farming areas in the territory of the republics of Russia and Ukraine, this study addresses the issue of the future involvement of collective and state‐farm workers in private farming. Through the use of a LISREL model, it is argued that those who have been involved in small‐scale private farming show no interest in expanding their farm operations or in buying or leasing additional land for farming. Moreover, it is maintained that those who intend to become farmers in privately owned and operated farms are more likely to be young, educated, and to some extent, ideologically committed to the free market system. A combination of structural constraints and a lack of knowledge regarding what to expect in the future can be viewed as possible explanations of the answers provided by respondents.