We use personnel data from a Russian firm for the years 1997 to 2002 to study thedeterminants of wages during transition. Our findings indicate that remuneration isnot predetermined by formal rules and a stable institutionalized structure of wages,but rather that local labor market conditions...

We use a rich personnel data set from a Russian firm for the years 1997 to 2002 to analyze how the financial crisis in 1998 and the resulting change in external labor market conditions affect the wages and the welfare of workers inside a firm. We provide evidence that large shocks to external...