The Phenomenon of Entrepreneurship in Reindeer Husbandry in Yamal: Assessment of the Situation, Paradoxes, and Contradictions

Abstract

AbstractThe chapter considers the development of domestic reindeer herding in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region over the past 30 years in terms of an entrepreneurial paradigm. Individual reindeer herding families own almost 60% of all domestic reindeer in the region. The chapter describes two types of nomadic entrepreneurs: economically independent and those relying on state support as well as differences in their behavior patterns, cultural values, and nomadic routes. Two reindeer herding models are presented: the ‘meat model’ of the Yamalsky district and the ‘antler model’ of the Tazovsky and Priuralsky districts in Yamal. Both models determine the differences in terms of size, dynamics and structure of the herd, length of nomadic routes, structure of production income. Unlike the dominant point of view blaming irresponsible reindeer herders for the depletion of pastures, the authors of the article see the problem as an institutional one – the result of public policies that created wrong incentives for reindeer herding entrepreneurs in recent decades. This policy transferred them to the position of hired herders equal to the state workers. The authors propose reforms in Yamal reindeer herding that will ensure a decisive transition to an entrepreneurial model in reindeer husbandry and an algorithm for the reforms in the state support system.