IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp1325.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Returns to Schooling in Russia and Ukraine: A Semiparametric Approach to Cross-Country Comparative Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Gorodnichenko, Yuriy

    (University of California, Berkeley)

  • Peter, Klara Sabirianova

    (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)

Abstract

This study provides the first set of estimates of the returns to schooling over an extended period in Russia and Ukraine (1985-2002). There has been an increase in returns to schooling in both countries but the increase is much bigger in Russia than in Ukraine. The intriguing question is why returns to schooling in Russia and Ukraine diverged so much over the transition period while the skill composition of employment did not. Our approach in analyzing the sources of cross-country differences in returns to schooling is to compare the Mincerian earnings functions between the two countries and then to employ decomposition techniques. Using semiparametric methods, we construct counterfactual wage distributions for university and secondary school graduates for Ukraine using the distributions of Russian characteristics, returns to characteristics, and unobservables. This allows us to decompose differences in returns to schooling between the two countries due to differences in the labor market returns (price effect), differences in unobservables (residual effect), and differences in the labor force composition (composition effect). We conclude that of these three effects the price effect makes a major contribution to the observed differences in the returns to schooling.

Suggested Citation

  • Gorodnichenko, Yuriy & Peter, Klara Sabirianova, 2004. "Returns to Schooling in Russia and Ukraine: A Semiparametric Approach to Cross-Country Comparative Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 1325, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1325
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp1325.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel Münich & Jan Svejnar & Katherine Terrell, 2005. "Returns to Human Capital Under The Communist Wage Grid and During the Transition to a Market Economy," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 100-123, February.
    2. Brainerd, Elizabeth, 1998. "Winners and Losers in Russia's Economic Transition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(5), pages 1094-1116, December.
    3. John S. Earle & Klara Z. Sabirianova, 2002. "How Late to Pay? Understanding Wage Arrears in Russia," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(3), pages 661-707, July.
    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. Flanagan, Robert J., 1998. "Were communists good human capitalists? The case of the Czech Republic," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 295-312, September.
    6. Filer, Randall K. & Jurajda, Stepan & Planovsky, Jan, 1999. "Education and wages in the Czech and Slovak Republics during transition," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 581-593, November.
    7. Juhn, Chinhui & Murphy, Kevin M & Pierce, Brooks, 1993. "Wage Inequality and the Rise in Returns to Skill," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(3), pages 410-442, June.
    8. Behrman, Jere R. & Rosenzweig, Mark R., 1994. "Caveat emptor: Cross-country data on education and the labor force," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 147-171, June.
    9. Peter, Klara Sabirianova, 2003. "Skill-Biased Transition: The Role of Markets, Institutions, and Technological Change," IZA Discussion Papers 893, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Klara Sabirianova Peter, 2003. "Skill-Biased Transition: The Role of Markets, Institutions, and Technological Change," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2003-616, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    11. 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.
    12. Orley Ashenfelter & David J. Zimmerman, 1997. "Estimates Of The Returns To Schooling From Sibling Data: Fathers, Sons, And Brothers," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 79(1), pages 1-9, February.
    13. Koenker, Roger W & Bassett, Gilbert, Jr, 1978. "Regression Quantiles," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(1), pages 33-50, January.
    14. Joshua D. Angrist & Alan B. Keueger, 1991. "Does Compulsory School Attendance Affect Schooling and Earnings?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(4), pages 979-1014.
    15. Munich, Daniel & Svejnar, Jan & Terrell, Katherine, 2005. "Is women's human capital valued more by markets than by planners?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 278-299, June.
    16. Fleisher, Belton M & Dong, Keyong & Liu, Yunhua, 1996. "Education, Enterprise Organization, and Productivity in the Chinese Paper Industry," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44(3), pages 571-587, April.
    17. Bonggeun Kim & Gary Solon, 2005. "Implications of Mean-Reverting Measurement Error for Longitudinal Studies of Wages and Employment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 193-196, February.
    18. Card, David, 2001. "Estimating the Return to Schooling: Progress on Some Persistent Econometric Problems," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 69(5), pages 1127-1160, September.
    19. Oi, Walter Y. & Idson, Todd L., 1999. "Firm size and wages," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 33, pages 2165-2214, Elsevier.
    20. Srinivasan, T. N., 1994. "Data base for development analysis Data base for development analysis: An overview," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 3-27, June.
    21. Robert S. Chase, 1998. "Markets for Communist Human Capital: Returns to Education and Experience in the Czech Republic and Slovakia," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 51(3), pages 401-423, April.
    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. 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.
    2. Andren, Daniela & Earle, John S. & Sapatoru, Dana, 2005. "The wage effects of schooling under socialism and in transition: Evidence from Romania, 1950-2000," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 300-323, June.
    3. Flabbi, Luca & Paternostro, Stefano & Tiongson, Erwin R., 2008. "Returns to education in the economic transition: A systematic assessment using comparable data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 724-740, December.
    4. Yang, Dennis Tao, 2005. "Determinants of schooling returns during transition: Evidence from Chinese cities," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 244-264, June.
    5. Anita V. Staneva & Hany Abdel-Latif, 2016. "From Soviet to Europe: Returns to Education Puzzle in Bulgaria," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 30(3), pages 347-367, September.
    6. Berger, Mark C. & Blomquist, Glenn C. & Sabirianova Peter, Klara, 2008. "Compensating differentials in emerging labor and housing markets: Estimates of quality of life in Russian cities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 25-55, January.
    7. Jones, Derek C. & Ilayperuma Simon, Kosali, 2005. "Wage determination under plan and early transition: Bulgarian evidence using matched employer-employee data," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 227-243, June.
    8. Cui, Yuling & Nahm, Daehoon & Tani, Massimiliano, 2013. "Earnings Differentials and Returns to Education in China, 1995-2008," IZA Discussion Papers 7349, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. 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).
    10. Arabsheibani, Reza & Mussurov, Altay, 2006. "Returns to Schooling in Kazakhstan: OLS and Instrumental Variables Approach," IZA Discussion Papers 2462, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Uwaifo Oyelere, Ruth, 2008. "Understanding Low Average Returns to Education in Africa: The Role of Heterogeneity across Education Levels and the Importance of Political and Economic Reforms," IZA Discussion Papers 3766, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Karolina Goraus & Joanna Tyrowicz & Lucas van der Velde, 2017. "How (Not) to make women work?," GRAPE Working Papers 1, GRAPE Group for Research in Applied Economics.
    13. Earle, John S. & Sakova, Zuzana, 1999. "Entrepreneurship from Scratch: Lessons on the Entry Decision into Self-Employment from Transition Economies," IZA Discussion Papers 79, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. 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.
    15. Tamar Khitarishvili, 2010. "Assessing the Returns to Education in Georgia," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_608, Levy Economics Institute.
    16. Kevin Denny & Orla Doyle, 2010. "Returns to basic skills in central and eastern Europe," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 18(1), pages 183-208, January.
    17. 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.
    18. Rutkowski, Jan, 2006. "Labor market developments during economic transition," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3894, The World Bank.
    19. Wang, Xiaojun & Fleisher, Belton M. & Li, Haizheng & Li, Shi, 2007. "Access to Higher Education and Inequality: The Chinese Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 2823, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Wang, Xiaojun & Fleisher, Belton M. & Li, Haizheng & Li, Shi, 2014. "Access to college and heterogeneous returns to education in China," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 78-92.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    cross-country analysis; counterfactual; decomposition; semiparametric approach; earnings function; returns to schooling; retrospective data; transition; Russia; Ukraine;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries
    • P50 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:iza:izadps:dp1325. 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: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.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.