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Grime and Punishment: Insecurity and Wage Arrears in the Russian Federation

Author

Listed:
  • Lehmann, Hartmut

    (Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS))

  • Wadsworth, Jonathan

    (Royal Holloway, University of London)

  • Acquisti, Alessandro

    (Carnegie Mellon University)

Abstract

Using information from two complementary household survey data sets, we show that the dominant form of labor market adjustment in the Russian transition process has been the delayed receipt of wages. More than half the workforce is experiencing some form of disruption to their pay. Wage arrears are found across the private, state and budgetary sector. Workers in the metropolitan center are less affected by delayed and incomplete wage payments than workers in the provinces. There is less evidence that individual characteristics contribute much toward the incidence of wage arrears, but the persistence of arrears is concentrated on a subset of the working population. We show that workers can only exercise the exit option of a job quit from a firm not paying wages in full or on time if the outside labor market is sufficiently dynamic.

Suggested Citation

  • Lehmann, Hartmut & Wadsworth, Jonathan & Acquisti, Alessandro, 1999. "Grime and Punishment: Insecurity and Wage Arrears in the Russian Federation," IZA Discussion Papers 65, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp65
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lehmann, Hartmut & Wadsworth, Jonathan, 2000. "Tenures That Shook the World: Worker Turnover in Russia, Poland, and Britain," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 639-664, December.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wage arrears; Job security; transition process; Russia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • P20 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - General

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