The Economics and Statistics Department of the Institute for the Study of Siberia: foundation, operation and contribution to the development of the Siberian region

This article explores the foundation and operation of the Economics and Statistics Department of the Institute for the Study of Siberia on the basis of a wide range of sources, documentary publications and scientific literature. It is noted that despite the intensive scientific work and results achieved, statistics and economics were in a very poor state in 1919 in Siberia. Under the ongoing social, economic and political crisis in Russia, the Siberian statisticians and economists were tasked not only with preserving the already achieved, but also with the qualitative transformation of the research process to find the solution to the crisis that arose during the events of the First World War, the Revolution and the Civil War. The Congress on the foundation of ISS started on January 15, 1919. The Statistics and Economics Section, located in Lecture Hall 3 of Tomsk University (TU), was one of the smallest by the number of participants (20 out of 241), and the number of submitted reports (3 out of 71). B.E. Budde, V.Ya. Nagnibeda, S.P. Nikonov, A.I. Medvedev and others participated. While the work did not include a wide set of theoretical problems, it was purely pragmatic in nature. The attention was focused on the prevailing circumstances: combining statistics and economics in the same research center for the purpose of conducting a comprehensive study of Siberia in the field of economics and statistics. The work of the Economics and Statistics Department could be divided into theoretical, practical (expeditionary), and scientific and organizational activities. In the theoretical program, compiling a directory For the Study of Siberia was the most important task for the department. In addition to the overall collective work, the department members researched several specialized problems within monographic studies. Practical activities of the department included, first of all, its expeditionary operations. One of them was the expedition of S.P. Nikonov to collect data on the cooperation of Eastern Siberia and the Far East. The meeting on December 16, 1919 approved the work schedule for the following year, in which three expeditions were planned: (1) for accounting lands in Siberia and for zoning of Siberia; (2) for the study of the sanitary conditions of workplaces; (3) for the "sanitary and economic survey of the coal industry of Western Siberia and the life of the workers". Scientific and organizational work of the department included, first of all, establishing cooperation with the History and Ethnology Department to conduct research on the ethnic composition of the population of Siberia; also, cooperation was made with the Industry and Technology Department to research industry capacities of Siberia. The report concludes on the contribution of ISS to the field of statistics and economics in Siberia. Despite the difficult economic and political conditions of the Civil War, the department was able to not only preserve scientific heritage available at that time, but also to kickstart the research in several key areas.

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