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Economic Consequences of Political Persecution

Author

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  • Bohacek, Radim

    (CERGE-EI)

  • Myck, Michal

    (Centre for Economic Analysis, CenEA)

Abstract

We analyze the effects of persecution and labor market discrimination during the communist regime in the former Czechoslovakia using a representative life history sample from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. We find strong effects of persecution and dispossession on subsequent earnings, with most severe implications of job loss due to persecution on earnings in subsequent jobs and on career degradation. Accumulated long-term effects in the form of initial retirement pensions paid during the communist regime are even greater. These pension penalties disappear by 2006 largely as a result of compensation schemes implemented by democratic governments after 1989. We use unique administrative data on political rehabilitation and prosecution to instrument for the endogenous variables. Finally, we survey transitional justice theory and document reparations programs in other countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Bohacek, Radim & Myck, Michal, 2017. "Economic Consequences of Political Persecution," IZA Discussion Papers 11136, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11136
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    life histories; wage differentials; persecution; labor discrimination; economic history; treatment effect models;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N34 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: 1913-
    • J70 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - General
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

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