IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nea/journl/y2016i31p67-92.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Real Wage Flexibility in Russia: Comparative Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Vakulenko, E.

    (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia)

  • Gurvich, E.

    (Economic Expert Group, Moscow, Russia
    Financial Research Institute, Moscow, Russia)

Abstract

Elasticity of real wages with respect to unemployment is measured for Russia. The estimates are compared to those obtained for a sample of advanced and transition countries by other authors. In order to make our conclusions more robust 3 different specifications are used to construct 'wage Phillips curve'. One model draws on data by region, two others draw on country-wide series. We find that regardless of the econometric specification real wage elasticity in Russia exceeds by far elasticity in all (or almost all) other countries for which comparable estimates are available. This evidences that high wage flexibility is an important salient feature of the Russian labor market. We obtain thus an explanation to the sustained low unemployment in the recent years despite marked output decline.

Suggested Citation

  • Vakulenko, E. & Gurvich, E., 2016. "Real Wage Flexibility in Russia: Comparative Analysis," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 31(3), pages 67-92.
    • Handle: RePEc:nea:journl:y:2016:i:31:p:67-92
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.econorus.org/repec/journl/2016-31-67-92r.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kees Folmer, 2009. "Why do macro wage elasticities diverge? A meta analysis," CPB Discussion Paper 122.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    2. Alfonso Arpaia & Karl Pichelmann, 2007. "Nominal and real wage flexibility in EMU," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 299-328, November.
    3. Lorenzo E Bernal-Verdugo & Davide Furceri & Dominique Guillaume, 2012. "Labor Market Flexibility and Unemployment: New Empirical Evidence of Static and Dynamic Effects," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 54(2), pages 251-273, June.
    4. Гафаров Булат Наилевич, 2011. "Кривая Филлипса И Становление Рынка Труда В России," Higher School of Economics Economic Journal Экономический журнал Высшей школы экономики, CyberLeninka;Федеральное государственное автономное образовательное учреждение высшего образования «Национальный исследовательский университет «Высшая школа экономики», vol. 15(2), pages 155-176.
    5. Anja Deelen & Wouter Verbeek, 2015. "Measuring Downward Nominal and Real Wage Rigidity - Why Methods Matter," CPB Discussion Paper 315, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    6. Blanchard, Olivier & Wolfers, Justin, 2000. "The Role of Shocks and Institutions in the Rise of European Unemployment: The Aggregate Evidence," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(462), pages 1-33, March.
    7. Sergei Guriev & Elena Vakulenko, 2012. "Convergence between Russian regions," Working Papers w0180, New Economic School (NES).
    8. Peter Huber, 2007. "Regional Labour Market Developments in Transition: A Survey of the Empirical Literature," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 4(2), pages 263-298, September.
    9. Athanasios Vamvakidis & Francis Vitek & Mwanza Nkusu & Reginald Darius & Alun H. Thomas & Edouard Vidon, 2010. "Cross-Cutting Themes in Employment Experiences during the Crisis," IMF Staff Position Notes 2010/018, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Alfonso Arpaia & Gilles Mourre, 2012. "Institutions And Performance In European Labour Markets: Taking A Fresh Look At Evidence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 1-41, February.
    11. Khraief, Naceur & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Heshmati, Almas & Azam, Muhammad, 2020. "Are unemployment rates in OECD countries stationary? Evidence from univariate and panel unit root tests," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    12. Blanchflower, David G., 2001. "Unemployment, Well-Being, and Wage Curves in Eastern and Central Europe," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 364-402, December.
    13. Veli YILANCI, 2008. "Are Unemployment Rates Nonstationary or Nonlinear? Evidence from 19 OECD Countries," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 3(47), pages 1-5.
    14. Lawrence F. Katz & Olivier Blanchard, 1999. "Wage Dynamics: Reconciling Theory and Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 69-74, May.
    15. Olivier Blanchard, 2006. "European unemployment: the evolution of facts and ideas [‘The macroeconomics of low inflation’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 21(45), pages 6-59.
    16. Gimpelson, Vladimir & Kapeliushnikov, Rostislav, 2011. "Labor Market Adjustment: Is Russia Different?," IZA Discussion Papers 5588, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. E. Vakulenko & E. Gurvich, 2015. "Modeling the Mechanisms of Russian Labour Market," VOPROSY ECONOMIKI, N.P. Redaktsiya zhurnala "Voprosy Economiki", vol. 11.
    18. Kees Folmer, 2009. "Why do macro wage elasticities diverge?," CPB Memorandum 224, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    19. Werner Eichhorst & Michael Feil & Paul Marx, 2010. "Crisis, What Crisis? Patterns of Adaptation in European Labor Markets," Applied Economics Quarterly (formerly: Konjunkturpolitik), Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 61(Supplemen), pages 29-64.
    20. Huber, Peter, 2004. "Intra-national labor market adjustment in the candidate countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 248-264, June.
    21. Guillermo A. Calvo & Fabrizio Coricelli & Pablo Ottonello, 2012. "Labor Market, Financial Crises and Inflation: Jobless and Wageless Recoveries," NBER Working Papers 18480, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Calvo, Guillermo & Coricelli, Fabrizio & Ottonello, Pablo, 2012. "The Labor Market Consequences of Financial Crises With or Without Inflation: Jobless and Wageless Recoveries," CEPR Discussion Papers 9218, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    23. Anja Deelen & Wouter Verbeek, 2015. "Measuring Downward Nominal and Real Wage Rigidity - Why Methods Matter," CPB Discussion Paper 315.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    24. Miquel Clar & Christian Dreger & Raúl Ramos, 2007. "Wage Flexibility and Labour Market Institutions: A Meta‐Analysis," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(2), pages 145-163, May.
    25. Kees Folmer, 2009. "Why do macro wage elasticities diverge? A meta analysis," CPB Discussion Paper 122, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    26. Andrey Shilov & Joachim Mueller, 2008. "Wage curve: theory and empirics (in Russian)," Quantile, Quantile, issue 4, pages 93-100, March.
    27. Knoester, Anthonie & van der Windt, Nico, 1987. "Real Wages and Taxation in Ten OECD Countries," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 49(1), pages 151-169, February.
    28. Vakulenko, Elena, 2015. "Analysis of the relationship between regional labour markets in Russia using Okun’s model," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 40(4), pages 28-48.
    29. El-hadj Bah & Josef C. Brada, 2014. "Labor Markets in the Transition Economies: An Overview," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 11(1), pages 3-53, June.
    30. Kees Folmer, 2009. "Why do macro wage elasticities diverge?," CPB Memorandum 224.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    31. Athanasios Vamvakidis & Francis Vitek & Mwanza Nkusu & Reginald Darius & Alun H. Thomas & Edouard Vidon, 2010. "Cross-Cutting Themes in Employment Experiences during the Crisis," IMF Staff Position Notes 2010/18, International Monetary Fund.
    32. VAN POECK, André & VEINER, Maret, 2007. "Wage flexibility in the new European Union members: How different from the old?," Working Papers 2007016, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    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. Pestova, Anna & Mamonov, Mikhail, 2019. "Should we care? : The economic effects of financial sanctions on the Russian economy," BOFIT Discussion Papers 13/2019, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.
    2. Gurvich, E. & Vakulenko, E., 2018. "Studies of Russian Labor Market and Economic Policy," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 37(1), pages 203-212.
    3. Pestova, Anna & Mamonov, Mikhail, 2019. "Should we care? The economic effects of financial sanctions on the Russian economy," BOFIT Discussion Papers 13/2019, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    4. Lyashok, Victor Yu. (Ляшок, Виктор) & Lopatina, Marina V. (Лопатина, Марина), 2019. "Wage Flexibility in Russia: Empirical Evidence from Microdata Analysis [Гибкость Заработных Плат В России: Что Показывают Микроданные?]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 4, pages 96-119, August.
    5. Gurvich, Evsey & Vakulenko, Elena, 2017. "Macroeconomic and structural properties of the Russian labor market: A cross-country comparison," Russian Journal of Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 411-424.
    6. Evsey T. Gurvich & Maria A. Ivanova, 2018. "Economic Effect of Population Ageing and Pension Reforms," Finansovyj žhurnal — Financial Journal, Financial Research Institute, Moscow 125375, Russia, issue 5, pages 9-22, October.
    7. Ksenia V. Rozhkova & Sergey Yu. Roshchin & Sergey A. Solntsev, 2018. "Wage Adjustment Policies In Russian Firms," HSE Working papers WP BRP 205/EC/2018, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    8. Olga Demidova & Pierluigi Daddi & Ekaterina Medvedeva & Marcello Signorelli, 2018. "Modeling the Employment Rate in Russia: a Spatial-Econometric Approach," Economy of region, Centre for Economic Security, Institute of Economics of Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, vol. 1(4), pages 1383-1398.
    9. repec:zbw:bofitp:2019_013 is not listed on IDEAS

    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. Gurvich, Evsey & Vakulenko, Elena, 2017. "Macroeconomic and structural properties of the Russian labor market: A cross-country comparison," Russian Journal of Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 411-424.
    2. Rusinova, Desislava & Lipatov, Vilen & Heinz, Frigyes Ferdinand, 2015. "How flexible are real wages in EU countries? A panel investigation," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 140-154.
    3. Bernal-Verdugo, Lorenzo E. & Furceri, Davide & Guillaume, Dominique, 2013. "Banking crises, labor reforms, and unemployment," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 1202-1219.
    4. Adam, Antonis, 2020. "Under economic adjustment programs, do private sector wages respond to changes in public wages and employment?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 1334-1351.
    5. Peeters, Marga & Den Reijer, Ard, 2011. "On wage formation, wage flexibility and wage coordination : A focus on the wage impact of productivity in Germany, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the United States," MPRA Paper 31102, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Marga Peeters & Ard den Reijer, 2014. "Coordination versus flexibility in wage formation: a focus on the nominal wage impact of productivity in Germany, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the United States," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(7), pages 698-714, March.
    7. Bofinger, Peter & Buch, Claudia M. & Feld, Lars P. & Schmidt, Christoph M. & Wieland, Volker, 2013. "Gegen eine rückwärtsgewandte Wirtschaftspolitik. Jahresgutachten 2013/14 [Against a backward-looking economic policy. Annual Report 2013/14]," Annual Economic Reports / Jahresgutachten, German Council of Economic Experts / Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung, volume 127, number 201314.
    8. El-hadj Bah & Josef C. Brada, 2014. "Labor Markets in the Transition Economies: An Overview," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 11(1), pages 3-53, June.
    9. Boeters, Stefan, 2011. "Optimal tax progressivity in unionised labour markets: What are the driving forces?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 2282-2295, September.
    10. Boeters, Stefan & Savard, Luc, 2011. "The labour market in CGE models," ZEW Discussion Papers 11-079, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    11. Mauro Mastrogiacomo & Rob Alessie, 2011. "Did you really save so little for your retirement? An analysis of retirement savings and unconventional retirement accounts," CPB Discussion Paper 200.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    12. Roberto Bande Ramudo & Melchor Fernández Fernández & Víctor Montuenga Gómez, 2011. "Wage flexibility and local labour markets: homogeneity of the wage curve in Spain," Documentos de trabajo - Analise Economica 0044, IDEGA - Instituto Universitario de Estudios e Desenvolvemento de Galicia.
    13. Gurvich, E. & Vakulenko, E., 2018. "Studies of Russian Labor Market and Economic Policy," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 37(1), pages 203-212.
    14. Egbert Jongen, 2009. "An analysis of individual accounts for the unemployment risk in the Netherlands," CPB Document 186.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    15. Egbert Jongen, 2009. "An analysis of individual accounts for the unemployment risk in the Netherlands," CPB Document 186, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    16. Stefan Boeters & Nico van Leeuwen, 2010. "A labour market extension for WorldScan; modelling labour supply, wage bargaining and unemployment in a CGE framework," CPB Document 201.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    17. Egbert Jongen, 2010. "Child care subsidies revisted," CPB Document 200.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    18. Boeters, Stefan & Savard, Luc, 2013. "The Labor Market in Computable General Equilibrium Models," Handbook of Computable General Equilibrium Modeling, in: Peter B. Dixon & Dale Jorgenson (ed.), Handbook of Computable General Equilibrium Modeling, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 1645-1718, Elsevier.
    19. Bos, Frits & Teulings, Coen, 2011. "Evaluating election platforms: a task for fiscal councils? Scope and rules of the game in view of 25 years of Dutch practice," MPRA Paper 31536, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Stefan Groot & Henri de Groot, 2011. "Wage inequality in the Netherlands: Evidence, trends and explanations," CPB Discussion Paper 186.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Phillips curve; wage flexibility; Russia; unemployment rate; comparative analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E23 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Production
    • 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:nea:journl:y:2016:i:31:p:67-92. 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: Alexey Tcharykov (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nearuea.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.