Financial and consumer patterns of high-income population in Russia: An empirical analysis

The article is devoted to the analysis of the economic profile of the highincome population in Russia, a group that, despite its status as a significant player in the economy, which largely determines the demand for goods and services, as well as setting consumer trends, remains understudied. This is a global scientific lacuna that is particularly relevant in the Russian context, given the level of heterogeneity in the distribution of wealth among the most affluent households. Studying high-income groups is an important task for the development of monetary and fiscal programs and policies. The relevance of this study lies in the need to identify the economic profile of the upper decile in Russia as a separate category of consumers in the economy. The empirical basis of the study is a set of primary data collected by the authors as part of a separate survey of the upper decile income group, which is part of the monitoring studies of the Economic Behavior of Households project at the Higher School of Economics (HSE). The scientific novelty of the study lies in the creation of a socio-economic profile of the upper decile households and the identification of differentiated strategies for saving and consumer behavior among this group. The stratification factor within this cohort is not only the number of disposable resources, but also the structure of assets and the type of sources of passive income. The analysis identifies two behavioral models of high-income households: the “rentier” and “depositor” strategies. The former is characterized by a predominant concentration of physical assets in the form of real estate, while the latter involves the use of financial instruments and a higher level of education. The transition to a diversified portfolio that combines both types of income is statistically associated with an increase in overall wealth and the stage of the respondents’ life cycle. The results obtained allow us to refine our understanding of the structure of Russian wealth and the behavioral incentives of the group that forms the country’s main investment and consumer potential.

1. Vorontsova A. A., Gudkova Y. V., Chetverikova E. V. (2025). Applying cluster analysis methods to assess the heterogeneity of Russian households by the level and structure of wealth. Control Sciences, No. 5, pp. 59—78.

2. Gudkova Y. V., Vorontsova A. A., Chetverikova E. V. (2024). Heterogeneity of households in Russia by asset structure. Analytical Note. Moscow: Bank of Russia. (In Russian).

3. Malakhovskaya O. A., Pekarski S. E. (2012). Studies of cause-effect relationships in macroeconomics: Nobel Prize in economics in 2011. HSE Economic Journal, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 3—30. (In Russian).

4. Pankova V. A., Lomonosov D. K. (2025). Analyzing the dynamics of income distribution and housing provision in Russia based on household data. Scientific Works: Institute of Economic Forecasting of the Russian Academy of Sciences, No. 3, pp. 21—42. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.47711/2076-3182-2025-3-21-42

5. Streltsova E. A. (ed.) (2025). Life online: Digital transformation of Russian society. Moscow: ISIEZ HSE. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.17323/978-5-7598-3112-9

6. Cherkashina T. Y. (2025). Inequality of Russian households in housing wealth: Level and dynamics. Sociological Journal, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 51—78. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.19181/socjour.2025.31.2.3

7. Atkinson A. B., Piketty T., Saez E. (2011). Top incomes in the long run of history. Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 3—71. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.49.1.3

8. Balestra C., Oehler F. (2023). Measuring the joint distribution of household income, consumption and wealth at the micro level: Methodological issues and experimental results. OECD Papers on Well-being and Inequalities, No. 11. https://doi.org/10.1787/f9d85db6-en

9. Carroll C. D. (1997). Buffer-stock saving and the life cycle/permanent income hypothesis. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 112, No. 1, pp. 1—55. https:// doi.org/10.1162/003355397555109

10. Christelis D., Georgarakos D., Jappelli T., Pistaferri L., Rooij M. (2019). Asymmetric consumption effects of transitory income shocks. Economic Journal, Vol. 129, No. 622, pp. 2322—2341. https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/uez013

11. Cihak M., Sahay R. (2020). Finance and inequality. IMF Staff Discussion Notes, No. 2020/001. https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513526546.006

12. Deaton A. (1991). Saving and liquidity constraints. Econometrica, Vol. 59, No. 5, pp. 1221—1248. https://doi.org/10.2307/2938366

13. Domanski D., Scatigna M., Zabai A. (2016). Wealth inequality and monetary policy. BIS Quarterly Review, March.

14. Dynan K. E., Skinner J., Zeldes S. (2004). Do the rich save more? Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 112, No. 2, pp. 397—444. https://doi.org/10.1086/381475

15. Fagereng А., Holm M. B., Moll B., Natvik G. (2019). Saving behavior across the wealth distribution: The importance of capital gains. NBER Working Paper, No. w26588. https://doi.org/10.3386/w26588

16. Favero C. A. (2007). Model evaluation in macroeconometrics: From Cowles foundation to DSGE models. Working Papers from IGIER Universita Bocconi, No. 327.

17. Friedman M. (1957). A theory of the consumption function. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press.

18. Hall R. E. (1978). Stochastic implications of the life cycle-permanent income hypothesis: Theory and evidence. Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 86, No. 6, pp. 971—987. https://doi.org/10.1086/260724

19. Kaplan G., Violante G. L. (2014). A model of the consumption response to fiscal stimulus payments. Econometrica, Vol. 82, No. 4, pp. 1199—1239. https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA10528

20. Kaplan G., Violante G., Weidner J. (2014). The wealthy hand-to-mouth. NBER Working Paper, No. 20073. https://doi.org/10.3386/w20073

21. Kuypers S., Figari F., Verbist G. (2021). Redistribution in a joint income—wealth perspective: A cross-country comparison. Socio-Economic Review, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 929—952. https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwz034

22. Modigliani F. (1970). The life-cycle hypothesis and intercountry differences in the saving ratio. In: W. A. Eltis, M. F. G. Scott, J. N. Wolfe (eds.). Induction, growth, and trade: Essays in honour of Sir Roy Harrod. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 197—225.

23. Modigliani F., Brumberg R. H. (2005). Utility analysis and the consumption function: An interpretation of cross-section data. In: The collected papers of Franco Modigliani, Vol. 6. London and Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, рp. 3—45.

24. Piketty T., Saez E. (2003). Income inequality in the United States, 1913—1998. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 118, No. 1, pp. 1—41. https://doi.org/10.1162/00335530360535135

25. Piketty T., Saez E., Zucman G. (2018). Distributional national accounts: Methods and estimates for the United States. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 133, No. 2, pp. 553—609. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjx043

26. Polyakova V., Streltsova E., Iudin I., Kuzina L. (2024). Irreversible effects? How the digitalization of daily practices has changed after the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology in Society, Vol. 76, article 102447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2023.102447

27. Saez E., Zucman G. (2016). Wealth inequality in the United States since 1913: Evidence from capitalized income tax data. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 131, No. 2, pp. 519—578. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjw004

28. Smeeding T. (2016). Gates, gaps, and intergenerational mobility: The importance of an even start. In: The dynamics of opportunity in America. Cham: Springer, pp. 255—295. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25991-8_8

29. Smeeding T. M., Weinberg D. H. (2001). Toward a uniform definition of household income. Review of Income and Wealth, Vol. 47, No. 1, рр. 1—24. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-4991.00001

30. Thurner T., Fursov K., Nefedova A. (2022). Early adopters of new transportation technologies: Attitudes of Russia’s population towards car sharing, the electric car and autonomous driving. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol. 155, рр. 403—417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2021.11.006

31. Wolff E. N., Zacharias A. (2009). Household wealth and the measurement of economic well-being in the United States. Journal of Economic Inequality, Vol. 7, pp. 83—115. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10888-007-9068-6