Salaries in Science: Dynamics and Priorities of Soviet Policy

This article characterises the salary changes in the field of science during the Soviet period. The author puts forward a hypothesis that the changes in salaries fixed in regulatory documents reflect long-term trends in science policy and conscious decisions of the authorities to distribute resource...

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Main Author: Evgeniya Andreevna Dolgova
Format: Article
Language:Russian
Published: Ural Federal University Press 2025-03-01
Series:Известия Уральского федерального университета. Серия 2: Гуманитарные науки
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Online Access:https://journals.urfu.ru/index.php/Izvestia2/article/view/8652
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author Evgeniya Andreevna Dolgova
author_facet Evgeniya Andreevna Dolgova
author_sort Evgeniya Andreevna Dolgova
collection DOAJ
description This article characterises the salary changes in the field of science during the Soviet period. The author puts forward a hypothesis that the changes in salaries fixed in regulatory documents reflect long-term trends in science policy and conscious decisions of the authorities to distribute resources between different groups (qualification, territorial, representatives of academic, university, and branch science, etc.). Characterising changes in salaries, the author concludes that 1) in Soviet science, the dominant line was not the individual economic motivation of a researcher, but the support of research teams affiliated with the sector (academic, university, branch science) or particular organisation; 2) the processes of stratification of the Soviet scientific community were of a hidden nature, implying the absence of a competitive distribution of resources, i. e. attempts to stimulate the individual efficiency of scientists were of a “punitive” rather than “incentive” nature; 3) wage regulation was an ineffective tool of scientific policy in conditions of the discrepancy between real and nominal wages in the field of science, inflationary processes, differences in the commodity value of the rouble for different groups, and the lack of transparency in the Soviet economy. In this respect, the assessment of the principle of material incentives for labour in science should be of a comprehensive nature, taking into account the whole range of practices of both financial and social and welfare support of science. The study draws upon a wide range of sources from the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the Russian State Archive of Contemporary History, including those introduced into the academic circulation for the first time.
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series Известия Уральского федерального университета. Серия 2: Гуманитарные науки
spelling doaj-art-fb847dc789904c4b9ffd62e7e523097a2025-08-20T03:07:51ZrusUral Federal University PressИзвестия Уральского федерального университета. Серия 2: Гуманитарные науки2227-22832587-69292025-03-0127110.15826/izv2.2025.27.1.0085730Salaries in Science: Dynamics and Priorities of Soviet PolicyEvgeniya Andreevna Dolgova0Российский государственный гуманитарный университет, МоскваThis article characterises the salary changes in the field of science during the Soviet period. The author puts forward a hypothesis that the changes in salaries fixed in regulatory documents reflect long-term trends in science policy and conscious decisions of the authorities to distribute resources between different groups (qualification, territorial, representatives of academic, university, and branch science, etc.). Characterising changes in salaries, the author concludes that 1) in Soviet science, the dominant line was not the individual economic motivation of a researcher, but the support of research teams affiliated with the sector (academic, university, branch science) or particular organisation; 2) the processes of stratification of the Soviet scientific community were of a hidden nature, implying the absence of a competitive distribution of resources, i. e. attempts to stimulate the individual efficiency of scientists were of a “punitive” rather than “incentive” nature; 3) wage regulation was an ineffective tool of scientific policy in conditions of the discrepancy between real and nominal wages in the field of science, inflationary processes, differences in the commodity value of the rouble for different groups, and the lack of transparency in the Soviet economy. In this respect, the assessment of the principle of material incentives for labour in science should be of a comprehensive nature, taking into account the whole range of practices of both financial and social and welfare support of science. The study draws upon a wide range of sources from the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the Russian State Archive of Contemporary History, including those introduced into the academic circulation for the first time.https://journals.urfu.ru/index.php/Izvestia2/article/view/8652советская науканаучные работникиоплата трудасектор наукитарифыокладстратификация
spellingShingle Evgeniya Andreevna Dolgova
Salaries in Science: Dynamics and Priorities of Soviet Policy
Известия Уральского федерального университета. Серия 2: Гуманитарные науки
советская наука
научные работники
оплата труда
сектор науки
тарифы
оклад
стратификация
title Salaries in Science: Dynamics and Priorities of Soviet Policy
title_full Salaries in Science: Dynamics and Priorities of Soviet Policy
title_fullStr Salaries in Science: Dynamics and Priorities of Soviet Policy
title_full_unstemmed Salaries in Science: Dynamics and Priorities of Soviet Policy
title_short Salaries in Science: Dynamics and Priorities of Soviet Policy
title_sort salaries in science dynamics and priorities of soviet policy
topic советская наука
научные работники
оплата труда
сектор науки
тарифы
оклад
стратификация
url https://journals.urfu.ru/index.php/Izvestia2/article/view/8652
work_keys_str_mv AT evgeniyaandreevnadolgova salariesinsciencedynamicsandprioritiesofsovietpolicy