9. What Could the Empress Know About Her Money? Russian Poll Tax Revenues in the Eighteenth Century

Korchmina points out that bureaucratic institutions need relevant information in order to be able to fulfil their functions, and she explores the extent to which the tax authorities (particularly in the 18th century) did or did not have the means to inform themselves about the financial situation around the empire. Korchmina poses the question – to what extent was eighteenth century Russia undergoverned? To answer this, she looks at whether the Russian government in the middle of the eighteenth century had enough informational resources to conduct a sensible financial policy, and whether there were enough officials to collect taxes and report on the revenue (in this case, the poll tax).