Differences in the evolution of income distribution in Poland and Russia in the post-socialist era are striking: for example, in Poland, the gini coefficient on earnings went from 0.28 to 0.33 between 1988 and 1998 while in Russia it went from 0.27 to 0.47 (UNICEF, 2001). We argue that these...

This paper examines the effect of banking on economic growth in modern Russia. To overcome simultaneity and selection, we exploit regional banking variation induced by the creation of ?specialized banks? (spetsbanks) in the last years of the Soviet Union (1988-1991). Consistent with the...