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Estimating the Public-Private Wage Gap in Russia: What Does Quantile Regression Tell Us?

Author

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  • Vladimir Gimpelson

    (National Research University Higher School of Economics)

  • Anna Lukiyanova

    (National Research University Higher School of Economics)

  • Anna Sharunina

    (National Research University Higher School of Economics)

Abstract

This paper explores the public-private wage gap in the Russian economy along the whole wage distribution. Using the RLM-HSE data set, it examines how gaps at various points of the distribution changed from 2000-2014 and presents decompositions of the gaps into components explained by differences in characteristics and differences in returns. The results suggest that the gap persists over time and varies along the wage distribution. During the 2000s low-skilled public sector workers had smaller pay gaps than higher-skilled workers had. Governmental policy interventions and the economic crisis of 2008-2009 contributed to the narrowing of the gap and its partial equalization along the distribution. A new set of policy changes associated with the May 2012 Presidential Decrees strengthened these tendencies but did not eliminate the gaps

Suggested Citation

  • Vladimir Gimpelson & Anna Lukiyanova & Anna Sharunina, 2015. "Estimating the Public-Private Wage Gap in Russia: What Does Quantile Regression Tell Us?," HSE Working papers WP BRP 104/EC/2015, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:hig:wpaper:104/ec/2015
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Cindy Biesenbeek & Siemen Werff, 2019. "Public–Private Wage Differentials: Evidence from The Netherlands," De Economist, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 23-43, March.
    2. Gimpelson, Vladimir & Lukiyanova, Anna & Sharunina, Anna, 2019. "Economics and Politics of the Public-Private Wage Gap (The Case of Russia)," IZA Discussion Papers 12247, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Jelena Nikolic, 2017. "Wage policies in the public sector during wholesale privatization," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 388-388, October.
    4. Lukyanova, Anna, 2021. "What keeps public sector workers in low-paid jobs? The role of self-selection and non-cognitive skills in explaining the public-private wage gap," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 62, pages 32-53.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    public sector; wage; public-private wage gap; quantile regression; RLMS-HSE; Russia.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets

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