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Wage Determination under Communism and in Transition: Evidence from Central Europe

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  • Basu, Swati

    (McGill University)

  • Estrin, Saul

    (London School of Economics)

  • Svejnar, Jan

    (Columbia University)

Abstract

Using large firm-level data sets from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, we show that the wage behavior of firms changed considerably as these economies launched their transitions to a market system. We find evidence of worker sharing in their enterprise rents and losses at the end of the communist period in some economies and within a year after the launching of the transition, we find rent sharing in all of them. Using the Czech and Slovak data we show that the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that existed under communism and survived allow for less worker rent-sharing than other firms. We also test for the presence of a wage curve and with the exception of Slovakia we do not find a significant association between local unemployment and wages. Finally, we do not find significant effects of firm ownership on wages.

Suggested Citation

  • Basu, Swati & Estrin, Saul & Svejnar, Jan, 2004. "Wage Determination under Communism and in Transition: Evidence from Central Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 1276, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1276
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Olivier Blanchard & Michael Kremer, 1997. "Disorganization," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1091-1126.
    2. Svejnar, Jan, 1986. "Bargaining Power, Fear of Disagreement, and Wage Settlements: Theory and Evidence from U.S. Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 54(5), pages 1055-1078, September.
    3. 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.
    4. Prasnikar, Janez, et al, 1994. "Behavior of Participatory Firms in Yugoslavia: Lessons for Transforming Economies," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(4), pages 728-741, November.
    5. repec:cor:louvrp:-12 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Brown, James N & Ashenfelter, Orley, 1986. "Testing the Efficiency of Employment Contracts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages 40-87, June.
    7. ZELLNER, Arnold & KMENTA, Jan & DREZE, Jacques H., 1966. "Specification and estimation of Cobb-Douglas production function models," LIDAM Reprints CORE 12, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    8. Dobbelaere, Sabien, 2004. "Ownership, firm size and rent sharing in Bulgaria," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 165-189, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Görzig, Bernd & Gornig, Martin & Werwatz, Axel, 2006. "Firm specific wage spread in Germany: Decomposition of regional differences in inter firm wage dispersion," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2006-045, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    2. Ales Berk, 2006. "Determinants of Leverage in Slovenian Blue-Chip Firms and Stock Performance Following Substantial Debt Increases," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(4), pages 479-494.
    3. Maxim Bouev, 2005. "State Regulations, Job Search and Wage Bargaining: A Study in the Economics of the Informal Sector," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp764, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    4. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2006-045 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Iga Magda & David Marsden & Simone Moriconi, 2012. "Collective Agreements, Wages, and Firms' Cohorts: Evidence from Central Europe," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 65(3), pages 607-629, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wages; rent-sharing; transition economies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts

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