Under state socialism, women fared relatively well in the labor market: female-male wage differentials were similar to those in the West, and female labor force participation rates were among the highest in the world. Have these women maintained their relative positions since the introduction of market reforms? The author investigates this question using household surveys from seven formerly socialist countries. The results indicate a consistent increase in female relative wages across Eastern Europe, and a substantial decline in female relative wages in Russia and Ukraine. Women in the latter countries have been penalized by the tremendous widening of the wage distribution in those countries. Increased wage inequality in Eastern Europe has also depressed female relative wages, but these losses have been more than offset by gains in rewards to observed skills and by an apparent decline in discrimination against women.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AdamJan. 1984. Employment and Wage Policies in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary since 1950. New York: St. Martin's.
2.
AtkinsonAnthony B.MicklewrightJohn. 1992. Economic Transformation in Eastern Europe and the Distribution of Income. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. 1990. Yearbook Australia 1990, Number 73. Canberra.
4.
BeckerGary S.1957; 2nd edition, 1971. The Economics of Discrimination. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
5.
BelkaMarek. 1994. “Evidence from a Survey of State-Owned, Privatized, and Emerging Private Firms.” Paper prepared for the Workshop on Enterprise Adjustment in Eastern Europe (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, Sept. 22–23).
6.
BlauFrancine D.FerberMarianne A., 1992. The Economics of Women, Men, and Work, 2nd edition. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
7.
BlauFrancineKahnLawrence M., 1992. “The Gender Earnings Gap: Learning from International Comparisons.”American Economic Review, Vol. 82, No. 2 (May), pp. 533–38.
8.
BlauFrancineKahnLawrence M., 1995. “The Gender Earnings Gap: Some International Evidence.” In FreemanRichard B.KatzLawrence F., eds., Differences and Changes in Wage Structures. Chicago: University of Chicago and NBER, pp. 105–44.
9.
BlauFrancineKahnLawrence M., 1997. “Swimming Upstream: Trends in the Gender Wage Differential in the 1980s.”Journal of Labor Economics, Vol. 15, No. 1, Pt. 1 (January), pp. 1–42.
10.
BogetićŽeljkoFoxLouise. 1993. “Incomes Policy during Stabilization: A Review and Lessons from Bulgaria and Romania.”Comparative Economic Studies, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Spring), pp. 39–57.
11.
BooteAnthony R.SomogyiJanos. 1991. Economic Reform in Hungary since 1968. IMF Occasional Paper No. 83. Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund.
12.
BrainerdElizabeth. 1997. “Women in Transition: Changes in Gender Wage Differentials in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union.” Luxembourg Income Study Working Paper No. 171.
13.
BrainerdElizabeth. 1998. “Winners and Losers in Russia's Economic Transition.”American Economic Review, Vol. 88, No. 5 (December), pp. 1094–1116.
14.
BristowJohn A.1996. The Bulgarian Economy in Transition. Cheltenham, U.K.: Edward Elgar.
15.
Central Bureau of Statistics [Netherlands]. 1992. Statistical Yearbook 1992 of the Netherlands. Voorburg/Heerlen.
16.
Central Statistical Office [Great Britain]. 1992. Annual Abstract of Statistics, No. 128. London.
17.
ChapmanJanet G.1991. “Recent and Prospective Trends in Soviet Wage Determination.” In StandingGuy, ed., In Search of Flexibility: The New Soviet Labour Market. Geneva: ILO, pp. 177–98.
18.
De MeloMarthaDenizerCevdetGelbAlan. 1997. “From Plan to Market: Patterns of Transition.” In BlejerMario I.ŠkrebMarko, eds., Macroeconomic Stabilization in Transition Economies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 17–72.
19.
Department of Statistics. 1990. New Zealand Official 1990 Yearbook, 94th edition. Wellington, New Zealand.
20.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. 1995. Transition Report 1995. London.
21.
FischerStanleySahayRatnaVéghCarlos A., 1996. “Stabilization and Growth in Transition Economies: The Early Experience.”Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Spring), pp. 45–66.
22.
FlanaganRobert J.1995. “Wage Structures in the Transition of the Czech Economy.”IMF Staff Papers, Vol. 42, No. 4 (December), pp. 836–54.
23.
FlanaganRobert J.1998a. “Institutional Reformation in Eastern Europe.”Industrial Relations, Vol. 37, No. 3 (July), pp. 337–57.
24.
FlanaganRobert J.1998b. “Were Communists Good Human Capitalists? The Case of the Czech Republic.”Labour Economics, Vol. 5, No. 3 (September), pp. 295–312.
25.
FongMonica S.1996. “Gender Barriers in the Transition to a Market Economy.” PSP Discussion Paper Series (January), Poverty and Social Policy Department, World Bank.
26.
FongMonica S.PaulGillian. 1992. “The Changing Role of Women in Employment in Eastern Europe.”World Bank Population and Human Resources Division, Report No. 8213.
27.
FreemanRichard B.1994. “What Direction for Labor Market Institutions in Eastern and Central Europe?” In BlanchardOlivier JeanFrootKenneth A.SachsJeffrey D., eds., The Transition in Eastern Europe, Vol. 2: Restructuring. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 1–35.
28.
Goskomstat of Russia. 1996. Trud i zanyatos' v rossii (Labor and Employment in Russia). Moscow.
29.
Goskomstat of Russia. 1998. Zhenshchiny i muzhchiny rossii 1998 (Women and Men of Russia 1998). Moscow.
30.
Government of the Russian Federation. 1994. Russian Economic Trends, Vol. 3, No. 4.
31.
HamJohnSvejnarJanTerrellKatherine. 1995. “Czech Republic and Slovakia.” In CommanderSimonCoricelliFabrizio, eds., Unemployment, Restructuring, and the Labor Market in Eastern Europe and Russia. Washington, D.C.: World Bank, pp. 91–146.
32.
HuntJennifer. 1997. “The Transition in East Germany: When Is a Ten Point Fall in the Gender Gap Bad News?” NBER Working Paper 6167.
33.
International Labour Office. 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998. Year Book of Labour Statistics. Geneva.
34.
JackmanRichard. 1994. “Economic Policy and Employment in the Transition Economies of Central and Eastern Europe: What Have We Learned?”International Labour Review, Vol. 133, No. 3, pp. 327–45.
35.
JonesDerek C.IlayperumaKosali. 1994. “Wage Determination under Plan and Early Transition: Evidence from Bulgaria.”Department of Economics, Hamilton College, Working Paper No. 94/5.
36.
JuhnChinhuiMurphyKevinPierceBrooks. 1991. “Accounting for the Slowdown in Black-White Wage Convergence.” In KostersM., ed., Workers and Their Wages. Washington, D.C.: AEI Press, pp. 107–43.
37.
KatzLawrence F.LovemanGary W.BlanchflowerDavid G., 1995. “A Comparison of Changes in the Structure of Wages in Four OECD Countries.” In FreemanRichard B.KatzLawrence F., eds., Differences and Changes in Wage Structures. Chicago: University of Chicago and NBER, pp. 25–65.
38.
KatzLawrence F.MurphyKevin M., 1992. “Changes in Relative Wages, 1963–1987: Supply and Demand Factors.”Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 107, No. 1 (February), pp. 35–78.
39.
KirschLeonard J.1972. Soviet Wages: Changes in Structure and Administration since 1956. Cambridge, Mass.: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
40.
KornaiJános. 1992. The Socialist System: The Political Economy of Communism. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
41.
KruegerAlan B.PischkeJörn-Steffen. 1995. “A Comparative Analysis of East and West German Labor Markets: Before and after Unification.” In FreemanRichard B.KatzLawrence F., eds., Differences and Changes in Wage Structures. Chicago: University of Chicago and NBER, pp. 405–45.
42.
Maurer-FazioMargaretHughesJames. 1999. “The Effect of Institutional Change on the Labor Market Outcomes of Chinese Women: Traditional Values vs. Market Forces.” Unpublished paper, Bates College.
43.
McAuleyAlastair. 1981. Women's Work and Wages in the Soviet Union. London: George Allen & Unwin.
44.
MunichDanielSvejnarJanTerrellKatherine. 1999. “Returns to Human Capital under the Communist Wage Grid and during the Transition to a Market Economy.” William Davidson Institute Working Paper No. 272.
45.
NewellAndrewReillyBarry. 1996. “The Gender Wage Gap in Russia: Some Empirical Evidence.”Labour Economics, Vol. 3, No. 3 (October), pp. 337–56.
46.
NewellAndrewReillyBarry. 1999. “Rates of Return to Educational Qualifications in the Transitional Economies.”Education Economics, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 67–84.
47.
NewellAndrewReillyBarry. 2000. “The Gender Pay Gap in the Transition from Communism: Some Empirical Evidence.” William Davidson Institute Working Paper No. 305.
48.
OgloblinConstantin G.1999. “The Gender Earnings Differential in the Russian Transitional Economy.”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 52, No. 4 (July), pp. 602–27.
49.
OrazemPeter F.VodopivecMilan. 1995. “Winners and Losers in Transition: Returns to Education, Experience, and Gender in Slovenia.”World Bank Economic Review, Vol. 9, No. 2 (May), pp. 201–30.
50.
OrazemPeter F.VodopivecMilan. 1999. “Male-Female Differences in Labor Market Outcomes during the Early Transition to Market: The Case of Estonia and Slovenia.” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 2087. Forthcoming in Journal of Population Economics.
51.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 1995a. “The Labour Market and Policy Reform in Ukraine: An Overview.”Paris: OECD.
52.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 1995b. “Wage Formation during the Period of Economic Restructuring in the Russian Federation.”Paris: OECD.
53.
PaukertLiba. 1995. “Economic Transition and Women's Employment in Four Central European Countries, 1989–1994.” Economics Department, International Labour Office, Labour Market Papers No. 7. Geneva: ILO.
54.
PsacharopoulosGeorgeTzannatosZaflris. 1991. Women's Employment and Pay in Latin America. World Bank, Latin America and the Caribbean Technical Dept., Regional Studies Report No. 10.
55.
RedorDominique. 1992. Wage Inequalities in East and West. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
56.
ReillyBarry. 1999. “The Gender Pay Gap in Russia during the Transition, 1992–1996.”Economics of Transition, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 245–64.
57.
RutkowskiJan. 1996. “High Skills Pay Off: The Changing Wage Structure during Economic Transition in Poland.”Economics of Transition, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 89–112.
58.
Statistical Yearbook of Finland. 1990. Helsinki.
59.
Statistika centralbyrån (Statistics Sweden). 1998. Statistical Yearbook of Sweden. Stockholm.
60.
SuenWing. 1997. “Decomposing Wage Residuals: Unmeasured Skill or Statistical Artifact?”Journal of Labor Economics, Vol. 15, No. 3, Pt. 1, pp. 555–66.
61.
ThirkellJ. E. M.PetkovK.VickerstaffS. A., 1998. The Transformation of Labour Relations: Restructuring and Privatization in Eastern Europe and Russia. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
62.
ThomasDuncan. 1990. “Intra-household Resource Allocation: An Inferential Approach.”Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 25, No. 4 (Fall), pp. 635–64.
63.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1991. Statistical Abstract of the United States. Washington, D.C.
64.
Vaughan-WhiteheadDaniel. 1998. “Wage Policy Reforms in Central and Eastern Europe: A First Assessment.” In Vaughan-WhiteheadDaniel, ed., Paying the Price: The Wage Crisis in Central and Eastern Europe. New York: St. Martin's, pp. 13–80.
65.
VečerníkJiří. 1995. “Changing Earnings Distribution in the Czech Republic: Survey Evidence from 1988–1994.”Economics of Transition, Vol. 3, No. 3 (September), pp. 355–71.
