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The Impact of Structural Reforms on Employment Growth and Labour Productivity: Evidence from Bulgaria and Romania

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  • Ralitza Dimova

Abstract

Using firm-level data from Bulgaria and Romania, this paper addresses a lacuna in the transition literature, namely, the link of firm-level employment turnover with firm-level growth in labour productivity. The results suggest that while net job creation at the firm level was affected by privatization in Bulgaria, privatization in Romania did not have any effect on firm-level employment growth. Further, Olley-Pakes (1996) decomposition indicates that in Bulgaria, over time, resources moved from less productive firms to more productive firms in almost all industries, but that in Romania such a phenomenon was observed in less than half of the industries. At the same time, the Grilliches-Regev (1995) decomposition indicates that in both these countries mobility of labour across firms, i.e., the process of job creation and job destruction at the firm level, contributed more to productivity changes than did other firm-level characteristics and industry-level factors affecting productivity. Finally, we find that the rate of employment changes in Bulgarian firms has a significant impact on the country's firm-level productivity changes. Regressions using Romania data, however, do not provide any support for this observation.

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  • Ralitza Dimova, 2003. "The Impact of Structural Reforms on Employment Growth and Labour Productivity: Evidence from Bulgaria and Romania," LICOS Discussion Papers 13203, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven.
    • Handle: RePEc:lic:licosd:13203
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    Cited by:

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    2. Barbara Dietz & Michael Knogler & Volkhart Vincentz, 2004. "Labour Market Issues in Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey," Working Papers 254, Leibniz Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung (Institute for East and Southeast European Studies).
    3. Guido Friebel & Gerard McCullough & Laura Padilla, 2016. "Product Market Deregulation's Winners and Losers: US Railroads between 1981 and 2001," Working Papers 2016-005, Universidad Loyola Andalucía, Department of Economics.
    4. Nebojsa Stojcic, 2012. "Patterns And Determinants Of Enterprise Restructuring In Central And East European Countries," Economic Thought and Practice, Department of Economics and Business, University of Dubrovnik, vol. 21(2), pages 429-456, december.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Comparison of Public and Private Enterprise and Nonprofit Institutions; Privatization; Contracting Out

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