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Polarization or upgrading? Evolution of employment in transitional Russia

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  • Gimpelson, Vladimir
  • Kapeliushnikov, Rostislav

Abstract

This paper discusses the structural changes in Russian employment and explores whether the evolution of employment from 2000 to 2012 followed the scenario of progressive upgrading in job quality or brought about the polarization of jobs in terms of quality. Jobs are defined in this study as occupation-industry cells, and their quality is measured through relative earnings and education level. Using detailed micro-data from a few complementary large-scale surveys, we rank all jobs according to the earnings and educational criteria and divide these distributions into five quintiles. At the next stage, we explore dynamic changes in job quality and socio-demographic characteristics of workers in different quintiles. The paper rejects the polarization scenario and confirms the upgrading hypothesis.

Suggested Citation

  • Gimpelson, Vladimir & Kapeliushnikov, Rostislav, 2016. "Polarization or upgrading? Evolution of employment in transitional Russia," Russian Journal of Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(2), pages 192-218.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rujoec:v:2:y:2016:i:2:p:192-218
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ruje.2016.06.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Sebastian, Raquel & Harrison, Scott, 2017. "Beyond technological explanations of employment polarisation in Spain," GLO Discussion Paper Series 154, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. Kyui, Natalia & Radchenko, Natalia, 2021. "The changing composition of academic majors and wage dynamics: Beyond mean returns," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 358-381.
    3. Gimpelson, Vladimir & Kapeliushnikov, Rostislav, 2017. "Age and Education in the Russian Labour Market Equation," IZA Discussion Papers 11126, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Ilya B. Voskoboynikov, 2020. "Structural Change, Expanding Informality and Labor Productivity Growth in Russia," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 66(2), pages 394-417, June.
    5. Rica, Sara De La & Gortazar, Lucas & Lewandowski, Piotr, 2020. "Job Tasks and Wages in Developed Countries: Evidence from PIAAC," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    6. Szymon Gorka & Wojciech Hardy & Roma Keister & Piotr Lewandowski, 2017. "Age, tasks and skills in European labour markets. Background paper for the world bank report “Growing United: Upgrading Europe’s Convergence Machine”," IBS Research Reports 04/2017, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    7. Delaporte, Isaure & Peña, Werner, 2023. "The Dynamics of Labour Market Polarization in Chile: An Analysis of the Link Between Technical Change and Informality," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1262, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    8. Kyui, Natalia & Radchenko, Natalia, 2020. "The Changing Composition of Academic Majors and Wage Dynamics," IZA Discussion Papers 13591, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Szymon Gorka & Wojciech Hardy & Roma Keister & Piotr Lewandowski, 2017. "Tasks and skills in European labour markets. Background paper for the World Bank report “Growing United: Upgrading Europe’s Convergence Machine”," IBS Research Reports 03/2017, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    10. Gimpelson, Vladimir & Kapeliushnikov, Rostislav, 2023. "Shifts in Composition of Jobs: Upgrading, Downgrading or Polarization? The Case of Russia 2000-2019," IZA Discussion Papers 16078, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Demidova, Olga & Kolyagina, Alena & Pastore, Francesco, 2020. "Marshallian vs Jacobs effects: Which is stronger? Evidence for Russia unemployment dynamics," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 244-258.
    12. Wojciech Hardy & Roma Keister & Piotr Lewandowski, 2018. "Educational upgrading, structural change and the task composition of jobs in Europe," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 26(2), pages 201-231, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    job polarization; job upgrading; job quality; employment restructuring; Russia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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