IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wdi/papers/2002-514.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Job Reallocation and Productivity Growth under Alternative Economic Systems and Policies: Evidence from the Soviet Transition

Author

Listed:
  • J. David Brown
  • John S. Earle

Abstract

How do economic policies and institutions affect job reallocation processes and their consequences for productivity growth? This paper studies the extreme case of economic system change and alternative transitional policies in the former Soviet Republics of Russia and Ukraine. Exploiting annual manufacturing census data from 1985 to 2000, we find that Soviet Russia displayed job flow behavior quite different from market economies, with very low rates of job reallocation that bore little relationship to relative productivity across firms and sectors. Since liberalization began, the pace, heterogeneity, and productivity effects of job flows have increased substantially. The increases occurred more quickly in rapidly reforming Russia than in ???gradualist??? Ukraine, as did the estimated effects of privatization and competitive pressures from product and labor markets on excess job reallocation and on the productivity-enhancing effects of job flows.

Suggested Citation

  • J. David Brown & John S. Earle, 2002. "Job Reallocation and Productivity Growth under Alternative Economic Systems and Policies: Evidence from the Soviet Transition," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 514, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    • Handle: RePEc:wdi:papers:2002-514
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39899/3/wp514.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stanley Fischer & Ratna Sahay & Carlos A. Végh, 2002. "Modern Hyper- and High Inflations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(3), pages 837-880, September.
    2. Nina Pavcnik, 2002. "Trade Liberalization, Exit, and Productivity Improvements: Evidence from Chilean Plants," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 69(1), pages 245-276.
    3. Simeon Djankov & Peter Murrell, 2002. "Enterprise Restructuring in Transition: A Quantitative Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(3), pages 739-792, September.
    4. John Baldwin & Timothy Dunne & John Haltiwanger, 1998. "A Comparison Of Job Creation And Job Destruction In Canada And The United States," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(3), pages 347-356, August.
    5. Steven J. Davis & John C. Haltiwanger & Scott Schuh, 1998. "Job Creation and Destruction," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262540932, December.
    6. Philippe Aghion & Olivier Jean Blanchard, 1994. "On the Speed of Transition in Central Europe," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1994, Volume 9, pages 283-330, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Roberts, Mark J & Tybout, James R, 1997. "Producer Turnover and Productivity Growth in Developing Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 12(1), pages 1-18, February.
    8. Ricardo Caballero & Mohamad Hammour, 2001. "Institutions, Restructuring and Macroeconomic Performance," International Economic Association Series, in: Jacques Drèze (ed.), Advances in Macroeconomic Theory, chapter 9, pages 171-193, Palgrave Macmillan.
    9. Haltiwanger, John C. & Vodopivec, Milan, 2002. "Gross worker and job flows in a transition economy: an analysis of Estonia," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(5), pages 601-630, November.
    10. Martin Neil Baily & Eric J. Bartelsman & John Haltiwanger, 2001. "Labor Productivity: Structural Change And Cyclical Dynamics," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(3), pages 420-433, August.
    11. Bilsen, Valentijn & Konings, Jozef, 1998. "Job Creation, Job Destruction, and Growth of Newly Established, Privatized, and State-Owned Enterprises in Transition Economies: Survey Evidence from Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 429-445, September.
    12. Tybout, James R. & Westbrook, M. Daniel, 1995. "Trade liberalization and the dimensions of efficiency change in Mexican manufacturing industries," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1-2), pages 53-78, August.
    13. Steven J. Davis & John Haltiwanger, 1990. "Gross Job Creation and Destruction: Microeconomic Evidence and Macroeconomic Implications," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1990, Volume 5, pages 123-186, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. John Earle & Ivan Komarov, 2001. "Measuring defense conversion in Russian industry," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 103-144.
    15. Ricardo J. Caballero & Mohamad L. Hammour, 1996. "On the Timing and Efficiency of Creative Destruction," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(3), pages 805-852.
    16. Olivier Blanchard & Michael Kremer, 1997. "Disorganization," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1091-1126.
    17. Boycko, Maxim & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1997. "Privatizing Russia," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262522284, December.
    18. Nauro F. Campos & Abrizio Coricelli, 2002. "Growth in Transition: What We Know, What We Don't, and What We Should," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(3), pages 793-836, September.
    19. Lucia Foster & John C. Haltiwanger & C. J. Krizan, 2001. "Aggregate Productivity Growth: Lessons from Microeconomic Evidence," NBER Chapters, in: New Developments in Productivity Analysis, pages 303-372, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Frye, Timothy & Shleifer, Andrei, 1997. "The Invisible Hand and the Grabbing Hand," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 354-358, May.
    21. Alessandro Acquisti & Hartmut Lehmann, 2000. "Job Creation and Job Destruction in the Russian Federation," Trinity Economics Papers 20001, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.
    22. Olley, G Steven & Pakes, Ariel, 1996. "The Dynamics of Productivity in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1263-1297, November.
    23. 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.
    24. Davis, Steven J. & Haltiwanger, John, 1999. "Gross job flows," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 41, pages 2711-2805, Elsevier.
    25. 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.
    26. Faggio, Giulia & Konings, Jozef, 1999. "Gross Job Flows and Firm Growth in Transition Countries: Evidence Using Firm Level Data on Five Countries," CEPR Discussion Papers 2261, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    27. Granick,David, 1987. "Job Rights in the Soviet Union," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521332958.
    28. Gregory, Paul R & Collier, Irwin L, Jr, 1988. "Unemployment in the Soviet Union: Evidence from the Soviet Interview Project," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(4), pages 613-632, September.
    29. Kornai, Janos, 1992. "The Socialist System: The Political Economy of Communism," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198287766, Decembrie.
    30. Steven J. Davis & John Haltiwanger, 1992. "Gross Job Creation, Gross Job Destruction, and Employment Reallocation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(3), pages 819-863.
    31. Jonathan S. Leonard, 1986. "In the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time: The Extent of Frictional and Structural Unemployment," NBER Working Papers 1979, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    32. International Monetary Fund, 1999. "Ukraine: Recent Economic Developments," IMF Staff Country Reports 1999/042, International Monetary Fund.
    33. Anders Åslund & Peter Boone & Simon Johnson, 1996. "How to Stabilize: Lessons from Post-communist Countries," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 27(1), pages 217-314.
    34. Mr. Alexander Pivovarsky, 2001. "How Does Privatization Work? Ownership Concentration and Enterprise Performance in Ukraine," IMF Working Papers 2001/042, International Monetary Fund.
    35. Walter Y. Oi, 1962. "Labor as a Quasi-Fixed Factor," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70, pages 538-538.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Radwan Shaban & Hiromi Asoaka & Bob Barnes & Vladimir Drebentsov & John Langenbrunner & Sajaia Zurab & James Stevens & David Tarr & Emil Tesliuc & Olga Shabalina & Ruslan Yemtsov, 2006. "Reducing Poverty through Growth and Social Policy Reform in Russia," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6955, December.
    2. Atanas Christev & Olga Kupets & Hartmut Lehmann, 2008. "Trade Liberalisation and Employment Effects in Ukraine," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 50(2), pages 318-340, June.
    3. Lehmann, Hartmut & Pignatti, Norberto & Wadsworth, Jonathan, 2006. "The incidence and cost of job loss in the Ukrainian labor market," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 248-271, June.
    4. Jozef Konings & Olga Kupets & Hartmut Lehmann, 2002. "Gross Job Flows in Ukraine: Size, Ownership and Trade Effects," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 521, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    5. Ickes, Barry W. & Ofer, Gur, 2006. "The political economy of structural change in Russia," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 409-434, June.
    6. World Bank, 2005. "Russia : Reducing Poverty through Growth and Social Policy Reform," World Bank Publications - Reports 8523, The World Bank Group.
    7. Dall'Olio, Andrea & Iootty, Mariana & Kanehira, Naoto & Saliola, Federica, 2014. "Enterprise productivity: a three-speed Europe," Working Paper Series 1748, European Central Bank.
    8. World Bank, 2005. "Ukraine : Poverty Assessment, Poverty and Inequality in a Growing Economy," World Bank Publications - Reports 8803, The World Bank Group.
    9. Alexander Hijzen & Richard Upward & Peter W. Wright, 2010. "Job Creation, Job Destruction and the Role of Small Firms: Firm‐Level Evidence for the UK," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 72(5), pages 621-647, October.
    10. Jeannette Jackson & Maria Coolican, 2002. "Healthy Organizations and the Link to Peaceful Societies: Strategies for Implementing Organizational Change," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 536, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    11. J. David Brown & John S. Earle, 2003. "The reallocation of workers and jobs in Russian industry," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 11(2), pages 221-252, June.
    12. Faggio, Giulia & Konings, Jozef, 2003. "Job creation, job destruction and employment growth in transition countries in the 90s," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 129-154, June.
    13. Kőrösi, Gábor, 2005. "Vállalati munkahelyteremtés és -rombolás [Corporate job creation and job destruction]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(11), pages 825-845.
    14. Jaan Masso & Raul Eamets & Kaia Philips, 2004. "Firm Demographics And Productivity Dynamics In Estonia," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 25, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).
    15. Ralitza Dimova, 2003. "The Impact on Structural Reforms on Employment Growth and Labour Productivity: Evidence from Bulgaria and Romania," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2003-600, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    16. Rinaldi, Gustavo, 2008. "The size of the firm in a transitional economy: Downsizing and economies of scale: The case of Russian footwear," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 389-409, December.
    17. Dall'Olio, Andrea & Iootty, Mariana & Kanehira, Naoto & Saliola, Federica, 2013. "Productivity growth in Europe," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6425, The World Bank.
    18. Renat Butabaev, 2015. "There is no growth without change - policy implications for transition economies," Montenegrin Journal of Economics, Economic Laboratory for Transition Research (ELIT), vol. 11(1), pages 69-84.
    19. Brown, J. David & Earle, John S., 2006. "The microeconomics of creating productive jobs : a synthesis of firm-level studies in transition economies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3886, The World Bank.
    20. Masso, Jaan & Eamets, Raul & Philips, Kaia, 2004. "Creative Destruction and Transition: The Effects of Firm Entry and Exit on Productivity Growth in Estonia," IZA Discussion Papers 1243, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    21. Jozef Konings & Olga Kupets & Hartmut Lehmann, 2003. "Gross job flows in Ukraine," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 11(2), pages 321-356, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. J. David Brown & John S. Earle, 2004. "Economic Reforms and Productivity-Enhancing Reallocation in the Post-Soviet Transition," Upjohn Working Papers 04-98, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    2. J David Brown & John S Earle, 2006. "Job Reallocation and Productivity Growth in the Ukrainian Transition," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 48(2), pages 229-251, June.
    3. J. David Brown & John S. Earle, 2008. "Understanding the Contributions of Reallocation to Productivity Growth: Lessons from a Comparative Firm-Level Analysis," ESCIRRU Working Papers 9, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Brown, J. David & Earle, John S., 2002. "Gross Job Flows in Russian Industry Before and After Reforms: Has Destruction Become More Creative?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 96-133, March.
    5. Faggio, Giulia & Konings, Jozef, 2003. "Job creation, job destruction and employment growth in transition countries in the 90s," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 129-154, June.
    6. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2711-2805 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Lehmann, Hartmut & Philips, Kaia & Wadsworth, Jonathan, 2005. "The incidence and cost of job loss in a transition economy: displaced workers in Estonia, 1989 to 1999," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 59-87, March.
    8. Jozef Konings & Olga Kupets & Hartmut Lehmann, 2002. "Gross Job Flows in Ukraine: Size, Ownership and Trade Effects," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 521, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    9. Dong, Xiao-yuan & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2009. "Labor restructuring in China: Toward a functioning labor market," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 287-305, June.
    10. Haltiwanger, John C. & Vodopivec, Milan, 2002. "Gross worker and job flows in a transition economy: an analysis of Estonia," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(5), pages 601-630, November.
    11. Brown, J. David & Earle, John S., 2006. "The microeconomics of creating productive jobs : a synthesis of firm-level studies in transition economies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3886, The World Bank.
    12. Kőrösi, Gábor, 2005. "Vállalati munkahelyteremtés és -rombolás [Corporate job creation and job destruction]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(11), pages 825-845.
    13. J. David Brown & John S. Earle, "undated". "The Reallocation of Workers and Jobs in Russian Industry: New Evidence on Measures and Determinants," Upjohn Working Papers jse20031, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    14. Marcela Eslava & John Haltiwanger & Adriana Kugler & Maurice Kugler, 2010. "Factor Adjustments after Deregulation: Panel Evidence from Colombian Plants," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(2), pages 378-391, May.
    15. J. David Brown & John S. Earle, 2003. "The reallocation of workers and jobs in Russian industry," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 11(2), pages 221-252, June.
    16. Jozef Konings & Olga Kupets & Hartmut Lehmann, 2003. "Gross job flows in Ukraine," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 11(2), pages 321-356, June.
    17. Ligia Alba Melo & Carlos Andrés Ballesteros, 2013. "Creación, destrucción y reasignación del empleo en el sector manufacturero colombiano," Revista de Economía Institucional, Universidad Externado de Colombia - Facultad de Economía, vol. 15(28), pages 281-311, January-J.
    18. Maxim Bouev, 2004. "Diverging Paths: Transition in the Presence of the Informal Sector," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2004-689, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    19. Harald Dale-Olsen & Dag Rønningen, 2000. "The Importance of Definitions of Data and Observation Frequen-cies for Job and Worker Flows - Norwegian Experiences 1996-1997," Discussion Papers 278, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    20. Lucia Foster & Cheryl Grim & John Haltiwanger, 2016. "Reallocation in the Great Recession: Cleansing or Not?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(S1), pages 293-331.
    21. Ralitza Dimova, 2003. "The Impact on Structural Reforms on Employment Growth and Labour Productivity: Evidence from Bulgaria and Romania," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2003-600, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    job reallocation; productivity; transition; Russia; Ukraine;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • P23 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Factor and Product Markets; Industry Studies; Population

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wdi:papers:2002-514. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: WDI (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/wdumius.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.