Contrary to expectations and announcements of policy makers in transition economies, privatization has taken longer than originally planned. This paper analyzes the institutional and behavioral factors that compound systemic barriers to privatization and thus transition from a centrally planned...

Does worker loyalty benefit workers? While the preponderance of studies identify benefits to firms of worker loyalty, few investigate whether workers benefit. We address this question using data collected from over 10,880 employees in over 655 workplaces in six transition economies (Armenia,...

Do younger workers in transition economies have a different work ethic from those who were trained and employed in the former socialist economy? Is the link between work ethic and performance among workers in transition economies the same for both older and younger workers? We address these...

We use data from an employee survey conducted in Russia, Armenia and Kazakhstan to investigate how much of the gender difference in pay in former socialist economies can be explained by personality. We consider a commonly used personality measure, locus of control (LOC), and find that among the...

We use data collected from employees in five transition economies to study whether locus of control and preference for challenge versus affiliation are positively related to worker performance. Participants with more education and who held supervisory positions were more likely to exhibit...