IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/ifwkwp/742.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Labour markets in Poland and Hungary five years from the start of transition: Evidence from monthly data

Author

Listed:
  • Brauer, Holger
  • Falk, Martin
  • Raiser, Martin

Abstract

This paper presents error correction estimates of a simple interdependent model of the labour market using monthly data over 1990-1994 for the industrial sector in Poland and Hungary. The aim is to investigate three issues in the performance of labour markets during transition. First, is there a stable labour market equilibrium or do high unemployment rates across the region indicate hysteresis? Second, has the intensity of employment adjustment increased with progress in institutional reforms that strengthened corporate governance at the enterprise level? Third, what governs the evolution of real wages and to what extent is there evidence for strong insider power in the labour market? The results reveal striking differences between Poland and Hungary. The former exhibits hysteresis and evidence for considerable insider power while the latter has experienced adjustment towards a stable labour market equilibrium. The intensity of adjustment, however, is high in both countries over the sample period and fails to respond to the initiation of institutional reforms.

Suggested Citation

  • Brauer, Holger & Falk, Martin & Raiser, Martin, 1996. "Labour markets in Poland and Hungary five years from the start of transition: Evidence from monthly data," Kiel Working Papers 742, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:742
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/46748/1/257707506.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ngo Long & Horst Siebert, 1992. "A model of the socialist firm in transition to a market economy," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 1-21, February.
    2. Banerjee, Anindya & Dolado, Juan J. & Galbraith, John W. & Hendry, David, 1993. "Co-integration, Error Correction, and the Econometric Analysis of Non-Stationary Data," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198288107.
    3. Coricelli, F. & Revenga, A., 1992. "Wage Policy During the Transition to a Market Economy: Poland 1990-91," World Bank - Discussion Papers _71, World Bank.
    4. Oecd, 1992. "From Labour Shortage to Labour Shedding: Labour Markets in Central and Eastern Europe," OECD Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers 9, OECD Publishing.
    5. Franz, Wolfgang & Gordon, Robert J., 1993. "German and American wage and price dynamics : Differences and common themes," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 719-754, May.
    6. Pinto, Brian & van Wijnbergen, Sweder, 1994. "Ownership and corporate control in Poland : why state firms defied the odds," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1308, The World Bank.
    7. Lane Timothy D., 1994. "Wage Controls and Employment in Economies in Transition," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 171-187, October.
    8. S Estrin & P Hare & M Suranyi, 1992. "Banking in Transition: Development and Current Problems in Hungary," CEP Discussion Papers dp0068, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    9. Kremers, Jeroen J M & Ericsson, Neil R & Dolado, Juan J, 1992. "The Power of Cointegration Tests," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 54(3), pages 325-348, August.
    10. Lindbeck, Assar & Snower, Dennis J., 1987. "Efficiency wages versus insiders and outsiders," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-2), pages 407-416.
    11. David Begg & Richard Portes, 1993. "Enterprise debt and economic transformation (Financial restructuring of the state sector in Central and Eastern Europe)," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 1(1), pages 116-117, January.
    12. Saul Estrin & Paul Hare & Marta Surányi, 1992. "Banking in transition: Development and current problems in Hungary," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(5), pages 785-808.
    13. Pinto, Brian & Belka, Marek & Krajewski, Stefan, 1993. "Transforming state enterprises in Poland : macroeconomic evidence on adjustment," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1101, The World Bank.
    14. Bean, Charles R, 1994. "European Unemployment: A Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 32(2), pages 573-619, June.
    15. Michael Burda & Michael Funke, 1993. "German trade unions after unification — Third degree wage discriminating monopolists?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 129(3), pages 537-560, September.
    16. Franz, Wolfgang, 1994. "Central and East European labor markets in transition: Developments, causes, and cures," Discussion Papers 19, University of Konstanz, Center for International Labor Economics (CILE).
    17. Hare, Paul G & Hughes, Gordon, 1991. "Competitiveness and Industrial Restructuring in Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland," CEPR Discussion Papers 543, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Szekely,Istvan & Newbery,David M. G., 2008. "Hungary: An Economy in Transition," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521057547.
    19. Aghion, Philippe & Blanchard, Olivier & Burgess, Robin, 1994. "The behaviour of state firms in eastern Europe, pre-privatisation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 1327-1349, June.
    20. Holger Schmieding, 1993. "From plan to market: On the nature of the transformation crisis," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 129(2), pages 216-253, June.
    21. Hansen Gerd, 1991. "Hysteresis und Arbeitslosigkeit/Hysteresis and Unemployment," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 208(3), pages 272-298, March.
    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. Gerling, Katja, 1998. "Transfers and transition: The impact of government support on factor demand and production in Eastern Germany," Kiel Working Papers 878, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).

    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. Martin Raiser, 1995. "“Transition is a bridge, therefore do not dwell upon it”1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 3(2), pages 215-246, June.
    2. Raiser, Martin & Nunnenkamp, Peter, 1993. "Output decline and recovery in Central Europe: the role of incentives before, during and after privatisation," Kiel Working Papers 601, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    3. Raiser, Martin, 1993. "Governing the transition to a market economy," Kiel Working Papers 592, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    4. Raiser, Martin, 1994. "Lessons for whom, from whom? The transition from socialism in China and Central Eastern Europe compared," Kiel Working Papers 630, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    5. Franz, Wolfgang, 1994. "Central and East European labor markets in transition: Developments, causes, and cures," Discussion Papers 19, University of Konstanz, Center for International Labor Economics (CILE).
    6. Perkins, Frances C., 1994. "State enterprise reform and macro-economic stability in transition economies," Kiel Working Papers 665, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    7. Martin Raiser, 1993. "Old habits die hard," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 28(4), pages 170-177, July.
    8. Raiser, Martin, 1993. "The no-exit economy: Soft budget constraints and the causes of success or failure of economic reforms in developing countries," Kiel Working Papers 581, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    9. Djankov, Simeon & Pohl, Gerhard, 1997. "The restructuring of large firms in Slovakia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1758, The World Bank.
    10. Josef C. Brada, 1996. "Privatization Is Transition--Or Is It?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 67-86, Spring.
    11. Raiser, Martin, 1994. "Ein tschechisches Wunder? Zur Rolle politikinduzierter Anreizstrukturen im Transformationsprozeß," Kiel Discussion Papers 233, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    12. Mitchell, Janet, 2001. "Bad Debts and the Cleaning of Banks' Balance Sheets: An Application to Transition Economies," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 1-27, January.
    13. Walsh, Patrick Paul & Whelan, Ciara, 2001. "Firm performance and the political economy of corporate governance: survey evidence for Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 85-112, June.
    14. Budina, Nina & Garretsen, Harry & Jong, Eelke de, 1999. "Liquidity constraints and investment in transition economies : the case of Bulgaria," Research Report 00E05, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    15. Herwartz, Helmut & Neumann, Michael H., 2005. "Bootstrap inference in systems of single equation error correction models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 128(1), pages 165-193, September.
    16. Campos, Julia & Ericsson, Neil R. & Hendry, David F., 1996. "Cointegration tests in the presence of structural breaks," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 187-220, January.
    17. Demetriades, Panicos O. & Hussein, Khaled A., 1996. "Does financial development cause economic growth? Time-series evidence from 16 countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 387-411, December.
    18. Gerdtham, Ulf-G. & Lothgren, Mickael, 2000. "On stationarity and cointegration of international health expenditure and GDP," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 461-475, July.
    19. Arize, Augustine C., 2017. "A convenient method for the estimation of ARDL parameters and test statistics: USA trade balance and real effective exchange rate relation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 75-84.
    20. Brown, J David & Earle, John, 2001. "Privatization, Competition and Reform Strategies: Theory and Evidence from Russian Enterprise Panel Data," CEPR Discussion Papers 2758, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Hysteresis; Adjustment Intensity; Insider Power;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • P52 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Studies of Particular Economies

    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:zbw:ifwkwp:742. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iwkiede.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.