IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/etrans/v4y1996i1p89-112.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

High skills pay off: the changing wage structure during economic transition in Poland

Author

Listed:
  • Jan Rutkowski

Abstract

Economic transition turns the inherited wage structure upside down. Changes are rapid and dramatic. The Polish example shows that even in the first year of market‐oriented reforms, there was a marked increase in earnings inequality, a dramatic rise in the wage premium for white‐collar skills, and a significant jump in the returns to education. In contrast, skills acquired under the old system lost their value. It is younger workers who are rewarded with higher wages. The changes are spearheaded by the private sector, where inequalities and the educational premium are higher than in the public sector. Privatization, thus, has its social aspects in that it strengthens the incentive for human capital investment. This paper documents these changes and sets out possible explanations.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Rutkowski, 1996. "High skills pay off: the changing wage structure during economic transition in Poland," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 4(1), pages 89-112, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:etrans:v:4:y:1996:i:1:p:89-112
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0351.1996.tb00163.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0351.1996.tb00163.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1468-0351.1996.tb00163.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Orazem, Peter F & Vodopivec, Milan, 1995. "Winners and Losers in Transition: Returns to Education, Experience, and Gender in Slovenia," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 9(2), pages 201-230, May.
    2. Alan B. Krueger & Jorn-Steffen Pischke, 1995. "A Comparative Analysis of East and West German Labor Markets: Before and After Unification," NBER Chapters, in: Differences and Changes in Wage Structures, pages 405-446, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Commander, Simon & Coricelli, Fabrizio & Staehr, Kar, 1991. "Wages and employment in the transition to a market economy," Policy Research Working Paper Series 736, The World Bank.
    4. repec:fth:prinin:307 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Alan Krueger & Jorn-Steffen Pischke, 1992. "A Comparative Analysis of East and West German Labor Markets: Before and After Unification," Working Papers 686, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    6. Redor,Dominique, 2010. "Wage Inequalities in East and West," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521134149, September.
    7. Carlin, Wendy & Soskice, David, 1990. "Macroeconomics and the Wage Bargain: A Modern Approach to Employment, Inflation, and the Exchange Rate," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198772446.
    8. Wilhelm Lorenz & Joachim Wagner & Karel van den Bosch, 1990. "A Note on the Returns to Human Capital in the Eighties: Evidence from Twelve Countries," LIS Working papers 54, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Puhani, Patrick A., 1997. "All Quiet on the Wage Front? Gender, Public-Private Sector Issues, and Rigidities in the Polish Wage Structure," ZEW Discussion Papers 97-03, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    2. Elizabeth Brainerd, 2000. "Women in Transition: Changes in Gender Wage Differentials in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 54(1), pages 138-162, October.
    3. Penka Kovacheva, 2011. "Human capital and wage inequality during transition: evidence from Bulgaria," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 237-255.
    4. Robert S. Chase, 1997. "Markets for Communist Human Capital: Returns to Education and Experience in the Czech Republic and Slovakia," Working Papers 770, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    5. Jiří Večerník, 2001. "Earnings disparities in the czech republic: evidence of the past decade and cross-national comparison," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2001(3).
    6. Chase, Robert S., 1997. "Markets for Communist Human Capital: Returns to Education and Experience in the Czech Republic and Slovakia," Center Discussion Papers 28391, Yale University, Economic Growth Center.
    7. Chase, Robert S., 1995. "Women's Labor Force Participation During and After Communism: A Study of the Czech Republic and Slovakia," Center Discussion Papers 28405, Yale University, Economic Growth Center.
    8. Boneva, T. & Golin, M. & Kaufmann, K. & Rauh, C., 2022. "Beliefs About Maternal Labor Supply," Janeway Institute Working Papers 2230, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    9. Pfeiffer, Friedhelm, 1997. "Human capital and innovation in East and West German manufacturing firms," ZEW Discussion Papers 97-08, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    10. Ghazala Azmat & Katja Maria Kaufmann & Yasemin Özdemir, 2023. "Socioemotional Development During Adolescence: Evidence from a Large Macro Shock," SciencePo Working papers hal-04350544, HAL.
    11. Bönke Timm & Schröder Carsten, 2011. "Poverty in Germany – Statistical Inference and Decomposition," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 231(2), pages 178-209, April.
    12. Luis P. Correia, 2006. "Schooling, learning on-the-job, earnings and inequality," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 06/585, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK.
    13. Kenneth Smith, 2007. "Determinants of Soviet Household Income," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 4(1), pages 3-24, June.
    14. Angel de la Fuente & Antonio Ciccone, 2003. "Human capital in a global and knowledge-based economy," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 562.03, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    15. Andrén, Daniela & Andrén, Thomas, 2007. "Occupational Gender Composition and Wages in Romania: From Planned Equality to Market Inequality?," IZA Discussion Papers 3152, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Boris Vujčić & Vedran Šošić, 2009. "Return to Education and the Changing Role of Credentials in the Croatian Labor Market," Transition Studies Review, Springer;Central Eastern European University Network (CEEUN), vol. 16(1), pages 189-205, May.
    17. Branko Milanovic, 2005. "Inequality And Determinants Of Earnings In Malaysia, 1984-97," Development and Comp Systems 0503007, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Sofia Cheidvasser, 2000. "The Educated Russian's Curse: Returns to Education in the Russian Federation," Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers 0246, Econometric Society.
    19. Steiner, Viktor & Wagner, Kersten, 1997. "East West German wage convergence - How far have we got?," ZEW Discussion Papers 97-25, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    20. Benjamin Moll, 2012. "Experience Matters for Development Accounting," 2012 Meeting Papers 423, Society for Economic Dynamics.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:etrans:v:4:y:1996:i:1:p:89-112. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ebrdduk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.