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Wage Arrears and the Distribution of Earnings in Russia

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  • Hartmut Lehmann
  • Jonathan Wadsworth

Abstract

The increase in wage inequality in Russia during its transition process has far exceeded the increase in wage dispersion observed in other European countries undergoing transition. Russia also has an extremely large incidence of wage arrears. We analyse to what extent wage arrears affect the wage distribution and measures of wage inequality in Russia. We present counterfactual distributions, derived from a variety of different methods, which suggest that conventional measures of earnings dispersion would be some 20 to 30 per cent lower in the absence of arrears. We then go on to show how wage gaps at various points in the pay distribution across gender, education, region and industry are influenced by a failure to allow for wage arrears. Using our counterfactual estimates we show, for example, that the median gender wage gap would be around twenty-five points higher than the actual gap that we observe. Similarly, the counterfactual ratio of mean graduate pay to mean pay of those with primary education is around twenty points lower than observed. We show that the parameters of the counterfactual wage distributions are very similar to the parameters of the observed wage distributions of those not in arrears. This means that for those wishing to study aspects of wage differentials and inequality in Russia, it may be feasible to use the subset of those not in arrears and still get close to the true population parameters.

Suggested Citation

  • Hartmut Lehmann & Jonathan Wadsworth, 2001. "Wage Arrears and the Distribution of Earnings in Russia," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 421, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    • Handle: RePEc:wdi:papers:2001-421
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    Cited by:

    1. Eduard Sobolev & Al Campbell, 2020. "Present-Day Problems of Wage Remuneration in Russia," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 52(4), pages 673-683, December.
    2. Boyarchuk, Dmytro & Maliar, Lilia & Maliar, Serguei, 2005. "The consumption and welfare implications of wage arrears in transition economies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 540-564, September.
    3. Geishecker, Ingo & Haisken-DeNew, John P., 2004. "Landing on all fours? Communist elites in post-Soviet Russia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 700-719, December.
    4. Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Klara Sabirianova Peter & Dmitriy Stolyarov, 2010. "Inequality and Volatility Moderation in Russia: Evidence from Micro-Level Panel Data on Consumption and Income," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 13(1), pages 209-237, January.
    5. Stanislav Kolenikov & Anthony Shorrocks, 2005. "A Decomposition Analysis of Regional Poverty in Russia," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(1), pages 25-46, February.
    6. Dorota Witkowska, 2013. "Gender Disparities in the Labor Market in the EU," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 19(4), pages 331-354, November.
    7. Lilia Maliar & Serguei Maliar, 2003. "A Neoclassical Theory Of Wage Arrears In Transition Economies," Working Papers. Serie AD 2003-15, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    8. Mitra, Pradeep & Yemtsov, Ruslan, 2006. "Increasing inequality in transition economies : is there more to come?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4007, The World Bank.
    9. Sergey Roshchin & Natalya Yemelina, 2021. "Gender wage gap decomposition methods: Comparative analysis," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 62, pages 5-31.
    10. Spryskov Dmitry, 2003. "Below the Poverty Line: Duration of Poverty in Russia," EERC Working Paper Series 03-04e, EERC Research Network, Russia and CIS.
    11. Serhan Cevik & Carolina Correa‐Caro, 2020. "Taking down the wall: Transition and inequality," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 238-253, February.
    12. Christopher J. Gerry & Byung-Yeon Kim & Carmen A Li, 2004. "The gender wage gap and wage arrears in Russia: Evidence from the RLMS," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 17(2), pages 267-288, June.
    13. Horie, Norio & Iwasaki, Ichiro & 岩﨑, 一郎, 2022. "Returns to Education in European Emerging Markets: A Meta-Analytic Review," RRC Working Paper Series 95, Russian Research Center, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    14. Norio Horie & Ichiro Iwasaki, 2023. "Returns to schooling in European emerging markets: a meta-analysis," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(1), pages 102-128, January.
    15. Heshmati, Almas, 2004. "Regional Income Inequality in Selected Large Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 1307, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Asad Alam & Mamta Murthi & Ruslan Yemtsov & Edmundo Murrugarra & Nora Dudwick & Ellen Hamilton & Erwin Tiongson, 2005. "Growth, Poverty and Inequality : Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7287, April.
    17. David Black & Yi-Ping Tseng & Roger Wilkins, 2009. "Examining the Role of Demographic Change in the Decline in Male Employment in Australia: A Propensity Score Re-weighting Decomposition Approach," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2009n24, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    18. Lukiyanova Anna, 2006. "Wage Inequality in Russia (1994–2003)," EERC Working Paper Series 06-03e, EERC Research Network, Russia and CIS.
    19. Anna LUKIYANOVA, 2008. "Structure and Distribution of Earnings in Russia, 1994–2003," The Journal of Comparative Economic Studies (JCES), The Japanese Society for Comparative Economic Studies (JSCES), vol. 4, pages 9-40, December.
    20. Edward Christie & Rostislav Kapelyushnikov & Andrei Kuznetsov & Waltraut Urban, 2010. "Monthly Report No. 2/2010," wiiw Monthly Reports 2010-02, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    21. Lukiyanova, A., 2011. "Wage Inequality in Russian Economic Transition (1991–2008): Stylized Facts and Explanations," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, issue 12, pages 124-147.

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    JEL classification:

    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers

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