This paper examines the evolution of the exchange rate of the ruble vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar from exchange rate unification, in July 1992, to the end of 1993. The expected and actual paths of the exchange rate are related to the exchange and trade regime and to the stance of financial and...

Following price and exchange rate liberalization, domestic consumer prices in Russia moved closer to market levels. This paper quantifies the magnitude of the associated relative price changes. It also shows that relative price variability has been positively correlated with inflation. It is...

Prices in Russia have been decontrolled in several steps since early 1991, after decades of near-fixity. Their behavior before and after the January 1992 price liberalization is analyzed here, as are the associated movements of wages and overall consumer incomes and expenditures. The emphasis is...

The divergence between production and consumption indicators in Russia suggests that the magnitude of the output collapse in the course of the transition is overstated by the official statistics. Alternative estimates for real GDP are derived, which reconcile the official production and...

The overall price level increased sharply in transition countries once prices were freed. Disinflation has most frequently been gradual, with prices continuing to rise rapidly in subsequent years. This paper identifies the well-known and lesser-known features of inflationary processes in central...

As Russia’s transition unfolds, the traditional national accounts concepts and reporting mechanisms become increasingly inadequate. As a result, the margin of error associated with basic price and quantity estimates widens substantially. A selection of key measurement and interpretation issues...

Macroeconomic stabilization and structural reforms in Russia since 1992 have been proceeding in a rather chaotic fashion. The Russian variety of economic gradualism has seen a sharp decline in output, though less than indicated by official statistics, and relatively resilient household...

Given the increasing integration of financial markets, a better understanding of the effects of fiscal deficits and debt on real interest rates might be obtained by taking a global, rather than a national, perspective. The paper constructs aggregate flow and stock data (including GDP, fiscal...

The empirical analysis indicates that in the Federal Republic the unemployed primarily influence the relationship between the level of real wages and productivity, rather than the growth of wages. This result suggests a distinction between an equilibrium natural rate of unemployment, which is...