We develop a theoretical framework where the chance of any given democratic society maintaining its democratic status is determined by two key factors: economic security and democratic capital. Our model predicts democracy breakdown is more likely (1) the lower the level of democratic capital,...

How do attitudes affect performance? Numerous studies show that individuals who exhibit an internal locus of control perform better than those characterized by an external locus of control. We use survey data collected in two regions in Russia to determine whether these same results hold among...

What is the relative importance of cognitive and non-cognitive traits in accounting for differences in worker performance in former socialist economies? We use survey data collected in 2005 from over 4790 employees in Russia, Armenia and Kazakhstan to construct three different performance...

Labor market conditions deteriorated substantially in the1990s during Russia's transition from plan to market, generating pervasive and prolonged economic insecurity. Our objective is to document perceptions of job insecurity among Russian workers over the course of the transition period and...

This paper investigates the relationship between locus of control and performance among Russian employees, using survey data collected at 28 workplaces in 2002 in Taganrog and at 47 workplaces in 2003 in Ekaterinburg. We develop a measure that allows us to categorize the Russian employees...

We investigate the link between perceptions and behavior using the wage arrears phenomenon in Russia as our case study. To measure perception, we utilize assessments of ‘marketability’ – what we call perceived demand. For behavior, we first consider the behavior of managers in the...

Economic insecurity is an inherent characteristic of the transition from a planned economy to a market-oriented economy and workers' assessments of their economic insecurity have direct consequences not only for their happiness/well-being, but also on consumption and saving behavior. This study...