Abstract: Òhe article discusses the information potential of sources related to the problems of wage inequality in Russia in general, and in the Central Industrial District (CID) in particular. Chronological framework of the study is 1910s – 1920s. The purpose of the study is to analyze archival materials of the State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF), the State Archive of the Tver Region (GATO), the State Archive of the Tula region (GATO), allowing to identify features in the study of wage differentiation in industry. The relevance of the study is due to the lack of a structured description of archival sources of wages in the specified period. The analysis of sources is done taking into account the representativeness of the results of archival heuristics carried out on the basis of scientific reference apparatus and documents from the funds of federal and regional archives. The archival materials considered in the work contain information about the wages of various categories of employees, their distribution by regional and professional principle, as well as changes in these indicators over time. The author comes to the conclusion that the degree of completeness of the source base varies for different categories of workers throughout the chronological framework under consideration, but this fact does not prevent the solution of certain issues related to wage inequality.

Abstract: This article describes the experience of content analysis of letters from oil industry workers in 1956. New little–studied sources are being put into circulation - the territorial-branch newspapers "Neftyanik of Tataria" and "Neftyanik of Bashkiria". The purpose of the study is to research the system of motivation of workers of oil-producing enterprises of the Ural-Volga region through the prism of their letters to the editorial offices of territorial-branch newspapers. The object of the study are the letters of employees published in newspaper issues for 1956. The comparison of letters published in newspapers was carried out in two aspects: by type of newspaper publisher and territorial affiliation. The article describes the experience of content analysis of letters from employees of associations and enterprises of the oil industry. The text of the article describes the analysis of letter materials carried out using the MAXQDA computer program, which implements the basic content analysis method. The use of the program made it possible to obtain data on the characteristic problems of concern to oil workers, the links between the identified categories. The UCINET program was used to visualize the data. The obtained results expand the understanding of the sources used in research on labor motivation, as well as directly supplement the data on motivation and stimulation of labor in the post-war USSR. The content analysis of the revealed semantic categories of letters showed the special importance of the category "production management" for solving both industrial and social issues.

Abstract: The question of the evolution of industrial motivation is a relatively new area of modern research in economic history. Active research on this topic in Russia began in the 1990s, relying mostly on the sources that characterize social aspects of industrial development of the Russian Empire and Soviet Russia of the 1920s – 1930s. The evolution of industrial motivation at the Soviet enterprises did not receive due attention. This article examines one of the key factors of industrial motivation –differentiation of wages based on the archival and published materials of the large oil and gas company “Tatneft”. The subject of this research is the dynamics of wages among various categories of Tatneft employees over the period from 1950s to 1980s. Research methodology leans on the principles of systematicity and historicism, as well as historical-comparative method and statistical analysis. The novelty lies acquisition of new knowledge on one of the crucial factors of incentivization and motivation of employees, as well as in introduction of new archival sources into the scientific discourse. The author concludes on the tendency towards equalize "net" salaries of different categories of employees of the company; however, the analysis of the dynamics of total wages of Tatneft employees taking into account bonuses, indicates a noticeable discrepancy.

Abstract: This article presents an analysis of the housing sector of the Tatneft production association in the 1950s to the 1980s. Based on archival and published data, the author analyzes the state of one of the most important elements in the social structure of the named association. The author examines such aspects of this topic as the structure of capital investments in the non-production sphere in general, and in housing construction in particular, the state of the process of putting residential spaces into operation, and the issue of "barrack housing". The research subject of this article is the evolution of Tatneft's housing sector. The methodological base of this study is constituted by the principles of historicism, systematicity, and objectivity. The author uses general historical methods (historical-comparative method) and quantitative methods (statistical analysis). This research is of practical significance due to the possibility of using the study's results to supplement the factual knowledge of the experience of housing development in Soviet industrial enterprises. The novelty of this study comes from both it providing new knowledge regarding one of the most important social spheres in the Tatneft production association and in introducing new archival sources into scientific circulation. The author concludes with the contradictory nature of Tatneft's housing policy: despite a number of successful measures, many quite serious issues remained.