Distribution dynamics of Russian regional prices

The objective of this paper is twofold: first, to show an application of the distribution dynamics approach developed in the literature on economic growth and income inequality to spatial price analysis, and second, to study the behaviour of Russian regional prices for staples during the decade of 2001–2010. The study includes three veins: first, tracing the evolution of price dispersion and changes in the shape of the cross-region price distribution over time; second, analysing changes in price ranking of regions (rank mobility); and third, analysing quantity mobility with the use of stochastic kernel. Results obtained evidence that regional relative prices in Russia remained fairly stable during 2001–2010. No significant changes are found in price dispersion and cross-region price distribution over this time span. Rank mobility was very low with seasonal surges. The pattern of quantity mobility manifests neither convergence nor divergence of regional prices. However, a long-run price distribution has an unpleasant feature, predicting potential emergence of a price convergence club in the Russian Far East. Given that potentialities for price convergence among Russian regions existed by 2001, the pattern obtained can be termed stagnation rather than stability.