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Job Reallocation and Productivity Growth Under Alternative Economic Systems and Policies: Evidence from the Soviet Transition

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  • J. David Brown

    (Heriot Watt University)

  • John S. Earle

    (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research and Central European University)

Abstract

How do economic policies and institutions affect job reallocation processes and their consequences for productivity growth? This paper studies the extreme case of economic system change and alternative transitional policies in the former Soviet Republics of Russia and Ukraine. Exploiting annual industrial census data from 1985 to 2000, we find that Soviet Russia displayed job flow behavior quite different from market economies, with very low rates of job reallocation that bore little relationship to relative productivity across firms and sectors. Since liberalization began, the pace, heterogeneity, and productivity effects of job flows have increased substantially. The increases occurred more quickly in rapidly reforming Russia than in "gradualist" Ukraine, as did the estimated effects of privatization and competitive pressures from product and labor markets on excess job reallocation and on the productivity-enhancing effects of job flows.

Suggested Citation

  • J. David Brown & John S. Earle, 2002. "Job Reallocation and Productivity Growth Under Alternative Economic Systems and Policies: Evidence from the Soviet Transition," Upjohn Working Papers 02-88, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:upj:weupjo:02-88
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    1. Radwan Shaban & Hiromi Asoaka & Bob Barnes & Vladimir Drebentsov & John Langenbrunner & Sajaia Zurab & James Stevens & David Tarr & Emil Tesliuc & Olga Shabalina & Ruslan Yemtsov, 2006. "Reducing Poverty through Growth and Social Policy Reform in Russia," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6955.
    2. Atanas Christev & Olga Kupets & Hartmut Lehmann, 2008. "Trade Liberalisation and Employment Effects in Ukraine," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 50(2), pages 318-340, June.
    3. Lehmann, Hartmut & Pignatti, Norberto & Wadsworth, Jonathan, 2006. "The incidence and cost of job loss in the Ukrainian labor market," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 248-271, June.
    4. Jozef Konings & Olga Kupets & Hartmut Lehmann, 2002. "Gross Job Flows in Ukraine: Size, Ownership and Trade Effects," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 521, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    5. Ickes, Barry W. & Ofer, Gur, 2006. "The political economy of structural change in Russia," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 409-434, June.
    6. World Bank, 2005. "Russia : Reducing Poverty through Growth and Social Policy Reform," World Bank Publications - Reports 8523, The World Bank Group.
    7. Dall'Olio, Andrea & Iootty, Mariana & Kanehira, Naoto & Saliola, Federica, 2014. "Enterprise productivity: a three-speed Europe," Working Paper Series 1748, European Central Bank.
    8. World Bank, 2005. "Ukraine : Poverty Assessment, Poverty and Inequality in a Growing Economy," World Bank Publications - Reports 8803, The World Bank Group.
    9. Alexander Hijzen & Richard Upward & Peter W. Wright, 2010. "Job Creation, Job Destruction and the Role of Small Firms: Firm‐Level Evidence for the UK," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 72(5), pages 621-647, October.
    10. Jeannette Jackson & Maria Coolican, 2002. "Healthy Organizations and the Link to Peaceful Societies: Strategies for Implementing Organizational Change," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 536, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    11. repec:bla:etrans:v:11:y:2003-06:i:2:p:221-252 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Faggio, Giulia & Konings, Jozef, 2003. "Job creation, job destruction and employment growth in transition countries in the 90s," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 129-154, June.
    13. Kőrösi, Gábor, 2005. "Vállalati munkahelyteremtés és -rombolás [Corporate job creation and job destruction]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(11), pages 825-845.
    14. Jaan Masso & Raul Eamets & Kaia Philips, 2004. "Firm Demographics And Productivity Dynamics In Estonia," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 25, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).
    15. repec:lic:licosd:13203 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Rinaldi, Gustavo, 2008. "The size of the firm in a transitional economy: Downsizing and economies of scale: The case of Russian footwear," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 389-409, December.
    17. Ralitza Dimova, 2003. "The Impact on Structural Reforms on Employment Growth and Labour Productivity: Evidence from Bulgaria and Romania," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2003-600, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    18. Dall'Olio, Andrea & Iootty, Mariana & Kanehira, Naoto & Saliola, Federica, 2013. "Productivity growth in Europe," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6425, The World Bank.
    19. Renat Butabaev, 2015. "There is no growth without change - policy implications for transition economies," Montenegrin Journal of Economics, Economic Laboratory for Transition Research (ELIT), vol. 11(1), pages 69-84.
    20. Brown, J. David & Earle, John S., 2006. "The microeconomics of creating productive jobs : a synthesis of firm-level studies in transition economies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3886, The World Bank.
    21. Masso, Jaan & Eamets, Raul & Philips, Kaia, 2004. "Creative Destruction and Transition: The Effects of Firm Entry and Exit on Productivity Growth in Estonia," IZA Discussion Papers 1243, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Russia; Ukraine; economy; work; transition; productivity; Earle; Brown; Upjohn;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • P23 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Factor and Product Markets; Industry Studies; Population

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