IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/compes/v48y2006i2p351-376.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Distribution of Wages in Belarus

Author

Listed:
  • Francesco Pastore

    (Seconda Università di Napoli, Piazza Matteotti 81055, Santa Maria Capua Vetere (Caserta), Italy.)

  • Alina Verashchagina

    (Belarusian National Technical University, Belarus)

Abstract

This paper uncovers evidence on the distribution of wages in Belarus in the second half of the 1990s. The returns to education and work experience are high and stable. While the former is a typical finding of transition studies, the latter is not. This might be due to the pervasive role of the state in fixing wages in the dominant budget sector, rather than to market forces coming into play. Women experience a small, though largely unexplained wage gap coupled with higher than average returns to education. A wage curve effect is found, which is similar in size to that of other transition countries, but much higher than in market economies. Comparative Economic Studies (2006) 48, 351–376. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ces.8100071

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Pastore & Alina Verashchagina, 2006. "The Distribution of Wages in Belarus," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 48(2), pages 351-376, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:pal:compes:v:48:y:2006:i:2:p:351-376
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ces/journal/v48/n2/pdf/8100071a.pdf
    File Function: Link to full text PDF
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ces/journal/v48/n2/full/8100071a.html
    File Function: Link to full text HTML
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dougherty, Christopher, 2003. "Why is the rate of return to schooling higher for women than for men?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20034, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Atkinson,Anthony Barnes & Micklewright,John, 1992. "Economic Transformation in Eastern Europe and the Distribution of Income," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521438827, September.
    3. Andrew Newell & Barry Reilly, 1999. "Rates of Return to Educational Qualifications in the Transitional Economies," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 67-84.
    4. Olivier Blanchard & Michael Kremer, 1997. "Disorganization," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1091-1126.
    5. Philippe Aghion & Simon Commander, 1999. "On the dynamics of inequality in the transition," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 7(2), pages 275-298, July.
    6. Psacharopoulos, George, 1994. "Returns to investment in education: A global update," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 22(9), pages 1325-1343, September.
    7. Svejnar, Jan, 1999. "Labor markets in the transitional Central and East European economies," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 42, pages 2809-2857, Elsevier.
    8. C Dougherty, 2003. "Why is the Rate of Return to Schooling Higher For Women Than For Men?," CEP Discussion Papers dp0581, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    9. Blanchflower, David G., 2001. "Unemployment, Well-Being, and Wage Curves in Eastern and Central Europe," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 364-402, December.
    10. Daron Acemoglu, 2002. "Technical Change, Inequality, and the Labor Market," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(1), pages 7-72, March.
    11. Kornai, Janos, 1992. "The Socialist System: The Political Economy of Communism," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198287766.
    12. Erica L. Groshen, 1991. "The Structure of the Female/Male Wage Differential: Is It Who You Are, What You Do, or Where You Work?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 26(3), pages 457-472.
    13. Orazem, Peter F. & Vodopivec, Milan, 1997. "Value of human capital in transition to market: Evidence from Slovenia," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(3-5), pages 893-903, April.
    14. Newell, Andrew T., 2001. "The Distribution of Wages in Transition Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 267, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Oleh Havrylyshyn, 2001. "Recovery and Growth in Transition: A Decade of Evidence," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 48(4), pages 1-4.
    16. Katz, Katarina, 1997. "Gender, Wages and Discrimination in the USSR: A Study of a Russian Industrial Town," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 21(4), pages 431-452, July.
    17. Kathryn Anderson & Richard Pomfret, 2000. "Gender Effects of Transition: The Kyrgyz Republic," School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers 2000-08, University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy.
    18. 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.
    19. Oaxaca, Ronald L. & Ransom, Michael R., 1994. "On discrimination and the decomposition of wage differentials," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 5-21, March.
    20. Adamchik, Vera A. & Bedi, Arjun S., 2000. "Wage differentials between the public and the private sectors: evidence from an economy in transition," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 203-224, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Horie, Norio & Iwasaki, Ichiro & 岩﨑, 一郎, 2022. "Returns to Education in European Emerging Markets: A Meta-Analytic Review," RRC Working Paper Series 95, Russian Research Center, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    2. Pastore Francesco & Verashchagina Alina, 2007. "The gender wage gap in the Republic of Belarus," EERC Working Paper Series 04-133e, EERC Research Network, Russia and CIS.
    3. Olivier Blanchard & Michael Kremer, 1997. "Disorganization," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1091-1126.
    4. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2005. "The Wage Curve Reloaded," NBER Working Papers 11338, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Norio Horie & Ichiro Iwasaki, 2023. "Returns to schooling in European emerging markets: a meta-analysis," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(1), pages 102-128, January.
    6. Kumo, Kazuhiro, 2015. "Research on Poverty in Transition Economies: A Meta-analysis on Changes in the Determinants of Poverty," RRC Working Paper Series 51, Russian Research Center, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    7. Aristei, David & Perugini, Cristiano, 2012. "Inequality and reforms in transition countries," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 2-10.

    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. Pastore, Francesco & Verashchagina, Alina, 2006. "Private returns to human capital over transition: A case study of Belarus," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 91-107, February.
    2. Ganguli, Ina & Terrell, Katherine, 2006. "Institutions, markets and men's and women's wage inequality: Evidence from Ukraine," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 200-227, June.
    3. Francesco Pastore, 2009. "School-to-Work Transitions in Mongolia," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 6(2), pages 245-264, December.
    4. repec:ilo:ilowps:423895 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Fleisher, Belton M. & Sabirianova, Klara & Wang, Xiaojun, 2005. "Returns to skills and the speed of reforms: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe, China, and Russia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 351-370, June.
    6. 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.
    7. Keane, Michael P. & Prasad, Eswar S., 2006. "Changes in the structure of earnings during the Polish transition," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 389-427, August.
    8. Jacob Weisberg & Mieczslaw Waclaw Socha, 2002. "Earnings in Poland: The Private Versus the Public Sector," Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business and Management, vol. 7(3), pages 17-38, Fall.
    9. Štìpán Jurajda, 2005. "Czech Relative Wages and Returns to Schooling: Does the Short Supply of College Education Bite? (in English)," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 55(1-2), pages 83-95, January.
    10. Nancy Vandycke, 2001. "Access to Education for the Poor in Europe and Central Asia : Preliminary Evidence and Policy Implications," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13974.
    11. Nauro F. Campos & Dean Jolliffe, 2002. "After, Before and During: Returns to Education in the Hungarian Transition," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 475, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    12. Vladislav Flek & Kamil Galuscak & Jaromir Gottvald & Jaromir Hurnik & Stepan Jurajda & David Navratil & Petr Mares & Daniel Munich & Tomas Sirovatka & Jiri Vecernik, 2004. "Anatomy of the Czech Labour Market:From Over-Employment to Under-Employment in Ten Years?," Working Papers 2004/07, Czech National Bank.
    13. Stepan Jurajda, 2003. "Does the Short Supply of College Education Bite?," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp213, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    14. Jens Holscher & Cristiano Perugini & Fabrizio Pompei, 2011. "Wage inequality, labour market flexibility and duality in Eastern and Western Europe," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(3), pages 271-310.
    15. Adamchik, V.A. & Bedi, A.S., 2001. "Persistence of the gender pay differential in a transition economy," ISS Working Papers - General Series 19091, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    16. Vera A. Adamchik & Arjun S. Bedi, 2003. "Gender pay differentials during the transition in Poland," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 11(4), pages 697-726, December.
    17. Jurajda, Stepan, 2003. "Gender wage gap and segregation in enterprises and the public sector in late transition countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 199-222, June.
    18. Joanna Tyrowicz & Lucas van der Velde, 2017. "When the opportunity knocks: large structural shocks and gender wage gaps," GRAPE Working Papers 2, GRAPE Group for Research in Applied Economics.
    19. Campos, Nauro F. & Jolliffe, Dean, 2003. "After, before and during: returns to education in Hungary (1986-1998)," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 377-390, December.
    20. Pham, Thai-Hung & Reilly, Barry, 2007. "The gender pay gap in Vietnam, 1993-2002: A quantile regression approach," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 775-808, October.
    21. Stepan Jurajda, 2000. "Gender Wage Gap and Segregation in Late Transition," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 306, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • P2 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies

    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:pal:compes:v:48:y:2006:i:2:p:351-376. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    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.