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Labor Market Flexibility in Central and East Europe

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  • Jan Svejnar

Abstract

I explore the extent to which insufficient labor market flexibility is an important factor causing Central and East European (CEE) economies to perform worse than they could and hence slowing down their readiness to enter the European Union. My conclusion is that labor market flexibility is an issue but that it is not a major factor in comparison to imperfections and regulations in other areas such as the housing market, transportation infrastructure, capital market, corporate governance, legal framework, and business environment. In particular, my assessment is that transition labor markets have been as flexible and functional as labor markets in the market economies and that the observed differences across transitional labor markets do not account for cross-country differences in economic performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Svejnar, 2002. "Labor Market Flexibility in Central and East Europe," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 496, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    • Handle: RePEc:wdi:papers:2002-496
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Garner, Thesia I & Terrell, Katherine, 1998. "A Gini Decomposition Analysis of Inequality in the Czech and Slovak Republics during the Transition," CEPR Discussion Papers 1897, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Swati Basu & Saul Estrin & Jan Svejnar, 2000. "Employment and Wages in Enterprises Under Communism and in Transition: Evidence from Central Europe and Russia," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 114, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    3. Jan Svejnar, 1996. "Pensions in the Former Soviet Bloc: Problems and Solutions," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 14, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    4. Swati Basu & Saul Estrin & Jan Svejnar, 1997. "Employment and wage behaviour of industrial enterprises in transition economies: The cases of Poland and Czechoslovakia1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 5(2), pages 271-287, November.
    5. Tito Boeri & Katherine Terrell, 2002. "Institutional Determinants of Labor Reallocation in Transition," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 51-76, Winter.
    6. Stepan Jurajda & Katherine Terrell, 2000. "Optimal Speed of Transition: Micro Evidence from the Czech Republic," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 355, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    7. Ham, John C & Svejnar, Jan & Terrell, Katherine, 1998. "Unemployment and the Social Safety Net during Transitions to a Market Economy: Evidence from the Czech and Slovak Republics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(5), pages 1117-1142, December.
    8. Simon Commander & Andrei Tolstopiatenko & Ruslan Yemtsov, 1999. "Channels of redistribution: Inequality and poverty in the Russian transition," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 7(2), pages 411-447, July.
    9. Klara Z. Sabirianova, 2000. "The Great Human Capital Reallocation: An Empirical Analysis of Occupational Mobility in Transitional Russia," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 309, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    10. Thesia I. Garner & Katherine Terrell, 1998. "A Gini decomposition analysis of inequality in the Czech and Slovak Republics during the transition1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 6(1), pages 23-46, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Anna Maria Ferragina & Francesco Pastore, 2008. "Mind The Gap: Unemployment In The New Eu Regions," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 73-113, February.
    2. Marek Dabrowski & Oleksandr Rohozynsky & Irina Sinitsina, 2004. "Post-Adaptation Growth Recovery in Poland and Russia - Similarities and Differences," CASE Network Studies and Analyses 0280, CASE-Center for Social and Economic Research.
    3. Zuzana Brixiova, 2009. "Labour Market Flexibility In Estonia: What More Can Be Done?," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp964, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    4. Dimitar NIKOLOSKI & Miroslav GVEROSKI, 2017. "Assessing the poverty-growth-inequality nexus: the case of Macedonia," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 8, pages 29-43, June.
    5. John Giles & Albert Park & Fang Cai, 2003. "How has Economic Restructuring Affected China’s Urban Workers?," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2003-628, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    6. Lucía Mateos-Romero & María del Mar Salinas-Jiménez, 2018. "Labor Mismatches: Effects on Wages and on Job Satisfaction in 17 OECD Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 369-391, November.
    7. Bah, El-hadj & Brada, Josef C. & Yigit, Taner, 2011. "With a little help from our friends: The effect of USAID assistance on SME growth in a transition economy," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 205-220, June.
    8. Joanna Tyrowicz & Piotr Wójcik, 2007. "Konwergencja bezrobocia w Polsce w latach 1999-2006," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 10, pages 1-20.
    9. Joanna Tyrowicz & Piotr Wójcik, 2010. "Regional Dynamics of Unemployment in Poland A Convergence Approach," AIEL Series in Labour Economics, in: Floro Ernesto Caroleo & Francesco Pastore (ed.), The Labour Market Impact of the EU Enlargement, pages 149-173, Springer.
    10. Kolev, Alexandre & Saget, Catherine, 2005. "Towards a better understanding of the nature, causes and consequences of youth labor market disadvantage: evidence for South-East Europe," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 32544, The World Bank.
    11. H. Lehmann & A. Muravyev, 2010. "Labor market institutions and labor market performance: what can we learn from transition countries?," Working Papers 714, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    12. Chiara Natalie Focacci, 2020. "“You reap what you sow”: Do active labour market policies always increase job security? Evidence from the Youth Guarantee," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 373-429, June.
    13. Maria Lissowska, 2010. "Evolution of the Institutions Governing the Labour Market. The Case of Poland," QA - Rivista dell'Associazione Rossi-Doria, Associazione Rossi Doria, issue 4, December.
    14. Vladimir Gligorov & Anna Iara & Michael Landesmann & Robert Stehrer & Hermine Vidovic, 2008. "Western Balkan Countries: Adjustment Capacity to External Shocks, with a Focus on Labour Markets," wiiw Research Reports 352, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    15. Kaarel Kilvits & Alari Purju, 2005. "Structure of Public Governance Institutions and Their Impact on Delocalisation of Labour-Intensive Industries," Working Papers 130, Tallinn School of Economics and Business Administration, Tallinn University of Technology.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
    • J4 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets
    • J5 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining
    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers
    • P2 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies
    • P3 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions

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