IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/8629.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Inequality and Welfare Dynamics in the Russian Federation during 1994-2015

Author

Listed:
  • Dang,Hai-Anh H.
  • Lokshin,Michael M.
  • Abanokova,Ksenia
  • Bussolo,Maurizio

Abstract

The Russian Federation offers the unique example of a leading centrally planned economy swiftly transforming itself into a market-oriented economy. This paper offers a comprehensive study of inequality and mobility patterns for Russia, using multiple rounds of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Surveys over the past two decades spanning this transition. The findings show rising income levels and decreasing inequality, with the latter being mostly caused by pro-poor growth rather than redistribution. The poorest tercile experienced a growth rate that was more than 10 times that of the richest tercile, leading to less long-term inequality than short-term inequality. The analysis also finds that switching from a part-time job to a full-time job, from a lower-skill job to a higher-skill job, or staying in the formal sector is statistically significantly associated with reduced downward mobility and increased income growth. However, a similar transition from the private sector to the public sector is negatively associated with income growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Dang,Hai-Anh H. & Lokshin,Michael M. & Abanokova,Ksenia & Bussolo,Maurizio, 2018. "Inequality and Welfare Dynamics in the Russian Federation during 1994-2015," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8629, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:8629
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/897011540838761109/pdf/WPS8629.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Filip Novokmet & Thomas Piketty & Gabriel Zucman, 2018. "From Soviets to oligarchs: inequality and property in Russia 1905-2016," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 16(2), pages 189-223, June.
    2. Stephen P. Jenkins, 2017. "Pareto Models, Top Incomes and Recent Trends in UK Income Inequality," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 84(334), pages 261-289, April.
    3. Tullio Jappelli & Luigi Pistaferri, 2010. "Does Consumption Inequality Track Income Inequality in Italy?," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 13(1), pages 133-153, January.
    4. Hai‐Anh H. Dang & Peter F. Lanjouw, 2017. "Welfare Dynamics Measurement: Two Definitions of a Vulnerability Line and Their Empirical Application," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63(4), pages 633-660, December.
    5. John Gibson & Bonggeun Kim & Chul Chung, 2008. "Using Panel Data to Exactly Estimate Under-Reporting by the Self-Employed," Working Papers in Economics 08/15, University of Waikato.
    6. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman, 2018. "Distributional National Accounts: Methods and Estimates for the United States," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(2), pages 553-609.
    7. Kuhn, Randall & Stillman, Steven, 2004. "Understanding Interhousehold Transfers in a Transition Economy: Evidence from Russia," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(1), pages 131-156, October.
    8. Mu, Ren, 2006. "Income Shocks, Consumption, Wealth, and Human Capital: Evidence from Russia," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(4), pages 857-892, July.
    9. Irina Denisova, 2012. "Income Distribution and Poverty in Russia," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 132, OECD Publishing.
    10. Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Klara Sabirianova Peter & Dmitriy Stolyarov, 2010. "Inequality and Volatility Moderation in Russia: Evidence from Micro-Level Panel Data on Consumption and Income," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 13(1), pages 209-237, January.
    11. Dang,Hai-Anh H. & Lokshin,Michael M. & Abanokova,Ksenia & Bussolo,Maurizio, 2018. "Inequality and Welfare Dynamics in the Russian Federation during 1994-2015," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8629, The World Bank.
    12. Steven Stillman & Duncan Thomas, 2008. "Nutritional Status During an Economic Crisis: Evidence from Russia," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(531), pages 1385-1417, August.
    13. Mark Aguiar & Mark Bils, 2015. "Has Consumption Inequality Mirrored Income Inequality?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(9), pages 2725-2756, September.
    14. Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2002. "Inverse probability weighted M-estimators for sample selection, attrition, and stratification," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 1(2), pages 117-139, August.
    15. Calvo,Paula Andrea & Lopez-Calva,Luis-Felipe & Posadas,Josefina, 2015. "A decade of declining earnings inequality in the Russian Federation," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7392, The World Bank.
    16. Sergey Kapelyuk, 2015. "The effect of minimum wage on poverty," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 23(2), pages 389-423, April.
    17. Aristei, David & Perugini, Cristiano, 2015. "The drivers of income mobility in Europe," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 197-224.
    18. Simon Commander & Andrei Tolstopiatenko & Ruslan Yemtsov, 1999. "Channels of redistribution: Inequality and poverty in the Russian transition," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 7(2), pages 411-447, July.
    19. Branko Jovanovic, 2001. "Russian Roller Coaster: Expenditure Inequality and Instability in Russia, 1994–98," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 47(2), pages 251-271, June.
    20. Gary Fields, 2010. "Does income mobility equalize longer-term incomes? New measures of an old concept," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 8(4), pages 409-427, December.
    21. repec:bla:etrans:v:11:y:2003-03:i:1:p:67-91 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Dang,Hai-Anh H. & Lanjouw,Peter F., 2013. "Measuring poverty dynamics with synthetic panels based on cross-sections," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6504, The World Bank.
    23. Lokshin, Michael & Harris, Kathleen Mullan & Popkin, Barry M., 2000. "Single Mothers in Russia: Household Strategies for Coping with Poverty," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 2183-2198, December.
    24. Shorrocks, Anthony, 1978. "Income inequality and income mobility," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 376-393, December.
    25. Dang, Hai-Anh & Lanjouw, Peter & Luoto, Jill & McKenzie, David, 2014. "Using repeated cross-sections to explore movements into and out of poverty," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 112-128.
    26. Bonggeun Kim & John Gibson & Chul Chung, 2017. "Using Panel Data to Estimate Income Under-Reporting by the Self-Employed," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 85(1), pages 41-64, January.
    27. Emmanuel Skoufias, 2003. "Consumption smoothing in Russia," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 11(1), pages 67-91, March.
    28. Daniel Treisman, 2016. "Russia's Billionaires," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 236-241, May.
    29. Lukiyanova, Anna & Oshchepkov, Aleksey, 2012. "Income mobility in Russia (2000–2005)," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 46-64.
    30. Facundo Alvaredo & Lucas Chancel & Thomas Piketty & Gabriel Zucman, 2018. "Distributional National Accounts," Post-Print halshs-03342488, HAL.
    31. repec:bla:revinw:v:47:y:2001:i:2:p:251-71 is not listed on IDEAS
    32. Lokshin Michael & Ravallion Martin, 2004. "Household Income Dynamics in Two Transition Economies," Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 8(3), pages 1-33, September.
    33. Steven Stillman, 2001. "The Response of Consumption in Russian Households to Economic Shocks," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 412, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    34. Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada & van Praag, Bernard M. S., 2001. "Poverty in the Russian Federation," IZA Discussion Papers 259, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    35. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell & Bernard Van Praag, 2001. "Poverty in Russia," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 2(2), pages 147-172, June.
    36. Guillermo Cruces & Peter Lanjouw & Leonardo Lucchetti & Elizaveta Perova & Renos Vakis & Mariana Viollaz, 2015. "Estimating poverty transitions using repeated cross-sections: a three-country validation exercise," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 13(2), pages 161-179, June.
    37. repec:bla:econom:v:66:y:1999:i:264:p:455-71 is not listed on IDEAS
    38. Wojciech Kopczuk & Emmanuel Saez & Jae Song, 2010. "Earnings Inequality and Mobility in the United States: Evidence from Social Security Data Since 1937," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(1), pages 91-128.
    39. Lokshin, Michael & Popkin, Barry M, 1999. "The Emerging Underclass in the Russian Federation: Income Dynamics, 1992-1996," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(4), pages 803-829, July.
    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. Perugini, Cristiano, 2020. "Patterns and drivers of household income dynamics in Russia: The role of access to credit," BOFIT Discussion Papers 11/2020, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    2. Vladimir Hlasny, 2022. "Household Earnings in Putin’s Russia: Distributional Changes across Socioeconomic Groups, 2000–2016," LIS Working papers 847, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    3. Dang, Hai-Anh H. & Abanokova, Kseniya & Lokshin, Michael M., 2020. "Life Satisfaction, Subjective Wealth, and Adaptation to Vulnerability in the Russian Federation during 2002-2017," GLO Discussion Paper Series 492, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Dang,Hai-Anh H. & Lokshin,Michael M. & Abanokova,Ksenia & Bussolo,Maurizio, 2018. "Inequality and Welfare Dynamics in the Russian Federation during 1994-2015," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8629, The World Bank.
    5. repec:zbw:bofitp:2020_011 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Bargain, Olivier & Etienne, Audrey & Melly, Blaise, 2021. "Informal pay gaps in good and bad times: Evidence from Russia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 693-714.
    7. T. M. Maleva & M. A. Kartseva & P. O. Kuznetsova & A. A. Salmina, 2021. "Does the Application of Alternative Methods Change the Pattern of Regional Inequality in Russia?," Regional Research of Russia, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 18-28, January.
    8. Svetlana V. Mareeva & Ekaterina D. Slobodenyuk, 2020. "A Society Of Unstable Well-Being: Income Mobility And Immobility In Russia," HSE Working papers WP BRP 94/SOC/2020, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    9. Hai-Anh H. Dang & Michael M. Lokshin & Kseniya Abanokova & Maurizio Bussolo, 2020. "Welfare Dynamics and Inequality in the Russian Federation During 1994–2015," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(4), pages 812-846, September.
    10. Perugini, Cristiano, 2020. "Patterns and drivers of household income dynamics in Russia : The role of access to credit," BOFIT Discussion Papers 11/2020, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.
    11. Hai-Anh H. Dang & Michael M. Lokshin & Kseniya Abanokova, 2019. "Did the Poor Adapt to Their Circumstances? Evidence from Long-run Russian Panel Data," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 39(4), pages 2258-2274.
    12. Anastasiya Lisina & Philippe Van Kerm, 2022. "Understanding Twenty Years of Inequality and Poverty Trends in Russia," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(S1), pages 108-130, April.

    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. Hai-Anh H. Dang & Michael M. Lokshin & Kseniya Abanokova & Maurizio Bussolo, 2020. "Welfare Dynamics and Inequality in the Russian Federation During 1994–2015," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(4), pages 812-846, September.
    2. Kseniya Abanokova & Hai-Anh H. Dang, 2023. "Poverty in Russia: a bird’s-eye view of trends and dynamics in the past quarter of a century," Chapters, in: Jacques Silber (ed.), Research Handbook on Measuring Poverty and Deprivation, chapter 58, pages 627-635, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Sergey Kapelyuk, 2015. "The effect of minimum wage on poverty," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 23(2), pages 389-423, April.
    4. David Aristei & Cristiano Perugini, 2022. "Credit and income mobility in Russia," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(3), pages 639-669, September.
    5. Herzfeld, Thomas & Huffman, Sonya & Rizov, Marian, 2014. "The dynamics of food, alcohol and cigarette consumption in Russia during transition," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 13, pages 128-143.
    6. repec:zbw:bofitp:2020_011 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Lukiyanova, Anna & Oshchepkov, Aleksey, 2012. "Income mobility in Russia (2000–2005)," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 46-64.
    8. Kapelyuk Sergey, 2014. "Impact of minimum wage on income distribution and poverty in Russia," EERC Working Paper Series 14/03e, EERC Research Network, Russia and CIS.
    9. Perugini, Cristiano, 2020. "Patterns and drivers of household income dynamics in Russia : The role of access to credit," BOFIT Discussion Papers 11/2020, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.
    10. Vladimir Otrachshenko & Olga Popova, 2022. "Does Weather Sharpen Income Inequality in Russia?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(S1), pages 193-223, April.
    11. Perugini, Cristiano, 2020. "Patterns and drivers of household income dynamics in Russia: The role of access to credit," BOFIT Discussion Papers 11/2020, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    12. Thomas Blanchet & Juliette Fournier & Thomas Piketty, 2022. "Generalized Pareto Curves: Theory and Applications," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(1), pages 263-288, March.
    13. Peter Lanjouw & Hai-Anh Dang, 2018. "Welfare dynamics in India over a quarter-century: Poverty, vulnerability, and mobility, 1987–2012," WIDER Working Paper Series 175, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. Himanshu & Peter Lanjouw, 2020. "Income mobility in the developing world: Recent approaches and evidence," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-7, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Ines A. Ferreira & Vincenzo Salvucci & Finn Tarp, 2021. "Poverty and vulnerability transitions in Myanmar: An analysis using synthetic panels," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 1919-1944, November.
    16. Filip Novokmet & Thomas Piketty & Gabriel Zucman, 2018. "From Soviets to oligarchs: inequality and property in Russia 1905-2016," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 16(2), pages 189-223, June.
    17. Nivorozhkina, Ludmila & Nivorozhkin, Anton & Abazieva, Kamilla, 2010. "Drop in consumption associated with retirement. The regression discontinuity design approach," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 19(3), pages 112-126.
    18. Nicolas Hérault & Stephen P. Jenkins, 2019. "How valid are synthetic panel estimates of poverty dynamics?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 17(1), pages 51-76, March.
    19. Hai‐Anh H. Dang & Peter Lanjouw, 2018. "Welfare dynamics in India over a quarter-century: Poverty, vulnerability, and mobility, 1987-2012," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-175, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    20. Nora Lustig, 2019. "The “Missing Rich” in Household Surveys: Causes and Correction Approaches," Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Working Paper Series 75, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    21. Bukowski, Pawel & Novokmet, Filip, 2019. "Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892-2015," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102834, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C15 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Statistical Simulation Methods: General
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries

    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:wbk:wbrwps:8629. 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: Roula I. Yazigi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.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.