The Development of Private Trade in 1924–1926 in the Irkutsk Province: Trends and Problems

Abstract

The present research featured the trends of private trade in the Irkutsk province. The study was based on historical documents from the State Archives of the Irkutsk Region. The paper focuses on 1924–1926 as the period of active trade development. The authors analyzed the problems of private trade functioning and their impact on the socio-economic situation in the region. The article describes the market activity and product range, the role and importance of entrepreneurship in commodity deficit relief and re-establishing of market relations. The research revealed a rapid development of private trade at the initial stage and a further reduction of this segment of economy as a result of the policy aimed at expanding the public sector. Subsequently, small private business moved into rural areas, and the retail network reduced. The authors believe that the development of private trade in this period was contradictory and unstable. In the Irkutsk province, there was a significant gap between prices and incomes, as well as between the cost of industrial and agricultural goods. As a result, the state trade activities were inefficient, and the private entrepreneurship needed support. However, the centralization of economic policy and the rigidity of management positions did not allow these trends to develop, which negatively affected the economy of the region as a whole.

Keywords

• new economic policy
• entrepreneur
• small-scale trade
• wholesale and retail trade
• private merchant
• purchasing power