The Historical and Economic Phenomenon of "Hodachestvo" (Scouting) in the Russian Empire at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries

Based on the synthesis of historical and institutional approaches, the article examines the role of "hodachestvo" (scouting) in the Russian Empire. Hodachestvo became a consequence of the processes of resettlement and colonization of sparsely populated territories of Siberia and the Far East, and from an economic point of view was a tool to reduce transaction cost or cost incurred by economic entities due to insufficient information. The stages of the formation of hodachestvo are considered, starting from the middle of the XIX century and ending in 1914, when hodachestvo ceased due to the First World War. It is determined that the formalization of the institution of hodachestvo takes place in 1896 and in the future there is a process of legislative improvement of this phenomenon. Hodachestvo reaches its greatest activity during the period of P.A. Stolypin's agrarian reform, starting in 1904, when the obligation to send scouts (walkers) was established. The phenomenon of hodachestvo is one of the examples of principal-agent relations with their characteristic opportunistic behavior of agents, which were scouts ( walkers). The experience of hodachestvo at the turn of the XIX - XX centuries can be used in modern Russia, as far as the problem of migration and development of Siberia and the Far East is still relevant.