nep-cis New Economics Papers
on Confederation of Independent States
Issue of 2006‒10‒14
three papers chosen by
Anna Y. Borodina
Perm State University

  1. Comparing Apples: Normalcy, Russia, and the Remaining Post-Socialist World. By Peter T. Leeson; William N. Trumbull
  2. Privatization with Government Control: Evidence from the Russian Oil Sector By Daniel Berkowitz; Yadviga Semikolenova
  3. The Russian-Ukrainian Earnings Divide By Amelie Constant; Martin Kahanec; Klaus F. Zimmermann

  1. By: Peter T. Leeson (Department of Economics, West Virginia University); William N. Trumbull (Department of Economics, West Virginia University)
    Abstract: Shleifer and Treisman (2005) argue that Russia is a “normal country.” Their benchmark for normalcy, however, refers primarily to middle-income countries like Mexico and Argentina. We propose that a more meaningful benchmark is the experience of other post-socialist transition countries, which share common political and economic histories with Russia, and have faced similar transition obstacles since communism’s collapse. We compare Russia’s economic performance, media freedom, democracy, and corruption since Russia began transition, to these benchmarks in all other post-socialist countries since they began their transitions. We find that Russia consistently and significantly performs below normal compared to its cohort.
    Date: 2006
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:06-03&r=cis
  2. By: Daniel Berkowitz; Yadviga Semikolenova
    Date: 2006–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pit:wpaper:218&r=cis
  3. By: Amelie Constant; Martin Kahanec; Klaus F. Zimmermann
    Abstract: Ethnic differences are often considered to be powerful sources of diverse economic behavior. In this paper, we investigate whether and how ethnicity affects Ukrainian labor market outcomes. Using micro data from the Ukrainian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (ULMS) and Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition of earnings, we find a persistent and rising labor market divide between ethnic Russians and Ukrainians throughout Ukraine's transition era. We establish that language rather than nationality is the key factor behind this ethnic premium favoring Russians. Our findings further document that this premium is larger among males than among females.
    Keywords: Ethnicity, earnings differences, discrimination, transitional labor markets, ethnic premium
    JEL: J15 J70 J82
    Date: 2006
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp627&r=cis

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