The recent EU enlargements into Central and Eastern Europe and increased labor mobility within the Union provide a unique opportunity to evaluate the labor market effects of emigration. Outmigration has contributed to higher wages for stayers, as well as to lower unemployment in the source...

Purpose – This paper aims to evaluate the use of personal connections to circumvent formal procedures, known as blat in the Soviet era, in post-Soviet societies by studying its role in graduate employment recruitment. Design/methodology/approach – To do this, the extent to which and how blat...

In this paper we measure the extent of gender discrimination on Central European labor markets (Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Slovak) during the first years of transition. Using Oaxaca's method and Social Stratification Survey data for 1993, we estimate that discrimination explains about half of...

Despite low open unemployment, labor market outcomes are unsatisfactory in Moldova. Employment is low and job opportunities are scarce. This paper examines labor market performance in Moldova by focusing on firm dynamics. It finds that the low level of employment in Moldova is due to the low...

Employment protection legislation in Croatia is among the most strict in Europe. Dismissals are difficult and costly, and flexible forms of employment are limited. Is this apparent rigidity reflected - as one would expect based on standard economic theory - in low labor market dynamics? Is job...

In this chapter, I survey principal econometric studies of several important labor market issues in Central and East European countries as they launched the transition from central planning to a market economy. The topics covered include employment, wage and fringe benefits determination in...

This paper documents and analyses gross job flows and their determinants in Estonia over the years 1995-2001, using a unique database from the Estonian Business Registry. This database contains all (including also micro and small firms) officially registered firms in Estonia, the total number...

Lithuania is a transition economy undergoing rapid enterprise restructuring associated with substantial job turnover. At the same time, unemployment in Lithuania is high and of long duration. This presents a puzzle: high job turnover epitomizes labor market flexibility, while high unemployment...

In this paper we document and analyse gross job flows in five transition countries, Poland, Estonia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania. Using comparable firm level data over the years 1993- 1997, we find that in early transition job destruction dominates job creation, while the latter is picking up...

The existence of compensating differentials in Russian labor and housing markets is examined using data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) augmented by city and regional-specific characteristics from other sources. While Russia is undergoing transition to a market economy, we...