Citation

Glinskaya, Elena E. (1999). Determinants of job mobility among prime-aged urban men in Russia in the 1990s. Master's thesis / Doctoral dissertation.

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the determinants of job mobility of prime-aged Russian men using three waves of the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) data collected in 1994, 1995, and 1996. The theoretical model developed in this paper is consistent with matching, search, and human capital theories of job mobility. While the model predicts that jobs which pay relatively high wages are less likely to end, the model shows two competing effects of wage arrears on the probability of employment transitions. On one hand, an individual who is currently owed back wages might be more likely to change jobs than a peer without wage arrears, if that individual perceives current wage arrears as a signal of future non-payment. Alternatively, overdue wages might lock a worker into the enterprise. If the worker leaves the firm, he is less likely to receive any back wages, since an outsider has fewer instruments with which to press the management for payment. The empirical investigation in this dissertation tests for potential endogeneity of wages and wage arrears, and for the sensitivity of results with respect to the different measures of wage-arrears-related variables. The research demonstrates that, on average, an increase in the stock of wage arrears increases the probability of separation from the job. Further, jobs which withhold the total amount of the most recent monthly paycheck are more likely to end. This research also demonstrates that wages are an important determinant of job separation decisions for prime-aged Russian men. Jobs which pay higher wages are less likely to end. These findings show that current financial characteristics of jobs--wages and wage arrears--provide strong signals about future on-the-job financial outcomes.

Reference Type

Thesis

Year Published

1999

Author(s)

Glinskaya, Elena E.