Constantin Ogloblin

THE GENDER EARNINGS DIFFERENTIAL IN THE RUSSIAN TRANSITION ECONOMY

Using data from the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS), the first nationally representative household survey in the Russian Federation, the author examines the gender earnings differential in Russia during the countrys transition to a market economy. The gender wage ratio is calculated at 71.7%, and most of the difference is found to be attributable to occupational and industrial employment segregation by gender. The author argues that the lower pay in “female” industries and occupations is determined by the interaction of the institutional factors inherited from the Soviet past with the forces of the emerging market.

Wage Determination in Rural Russia: A Stochastic Frontier Model

This article examines wages in rural Russia after the first decade of economic transition using data from a nationally representative household survey. The stochastic frontier analysis reveals that Russias rural labour markets place high value on human capital. The overall level of rural wages, however, is very low, with the median wage 10% below the official subsistence level. The gender pay gap severely depresses womens wages. A woman with the same skills as a man is paid only 47% of the mans wage. Rural workers who receive income from their personal plots accept significantly lower wages. Private firms pay considerably higher wages than state or collectively owned firms, but account only for one fifth of rural workers.