The Evolution of Labour Relations inside a Russian Firm during Late Transition: Evidence from Personnel Data

This chapter surveys three studies on the internal labour market of one Russian firm spanning the years 1997 to 2002 and focuses on three different issues. The studies use unique personnel data that were collected by us and that include the work history of each employee as well as annual averages of monthly wages and total compensation. Since the three studies are part of a larger project on internal labour markets in Russia and Ukraine during transition, the paper begins with a general assessment of how the analysis of personnel data from transition countries can contribute to the general literature on internal labour markets. After short descriptions of the firm that was investigated and the personnel data at our disposal, the motivation and the pertinent results of the three studies are presented. The first study looks at the question of how the costs of a financial crisis are spread over the workforce and whether incumbent employees are sheltered from negative shocks in the economy. The second study is tied to the discussion of wage determination in Russia and analyses the narrower question whether local labour market conditions are an important factor in the wage determination process of the firm in question or whether stable internal labour market structures are of primary concern for its human resource managers. The third study contributes to the literature on the labour market experience of women in transition by analysing the evolution and the determinants of the gender earnings gap in the firm.