Human Development in Eastern Europe and the CIS Since 1990

This paper examines changes in human development in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) since 1990. Three main areas of human development in the region are discussed in detail: (i) changes in wage and income inequality; (ii) trends in mortality and life expectancy; and (iii) changes in political participation and empowerment. While all countries experienced declines in income, rising unemployment and increased inequality in the 1990s, by 2008 most countries had reached or surpassed their pre-transition levels of income per capita, and unemployment and inequality had declined or at least stabilized. Life expectancy declined sharply in the former Soviet Union in the 1990s and remains at low levels. In contrast, life expectancy across Eastern Europe has risen dramatically. Political trends have also diverged across the region, with most East European countries and the Baltics now considered to be reasonably well-functioning democracies, while a number of CIS countries have lost most of the gains in democratization achieved in the 1990s and turned toward authoritarianism.wage inequality, mortality, gender, empowerment, transitional economies

The Demographic Transformation of Post-Socialist Countries

The formerly socialist countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union have experienced a remarkable demographic transformation in the past twenty years. On many dimensions of fertility and family formation, much of the region now looks like Western Europe—below-replacement fertility rates, rising age at first marriage and first birth, and high and increasing out-of-wedlock birthrates, characterize many countries formerly distinguished by replacement-level fertility and early, near-universal marriage and childbearing. The other facet of this demographic transformation is nearly unprecedented changes in adult mortality rates. An upsurge of cardiovascular and external cause mortality caused a massive premature loss of life among working-age men in the former Soviet Union in the 1990s. In contrast, cardiovascular mortality has fallen at a rapid rate across Eastern Europe since 1989. This study discusses the dimensions and most likely causes of these demographic changes and assesses the possible consequences of the changing fertility and mortality patterns. Much remains unknown about the underlying reasons for the demographic transformation of the region; directions for future research in this area are discussed.fertility; marriage; mortality; transitional economies

Autopsy on an Empire: Understanding Mortality in Russia and the Former Soviet Union

Male life expectancy at birth fell by over six years in Russia between 1989 and 1994. Many other countries of the former Soviet Union saw similar declines, and female life expectancy fell as well. Using cross-country and Russian household survey data, we assess six possible explanations for this upsurge in mortality. Most find little support in the data: the deterioration of the health care system, changes in diet and obesity, and material deprivation fail to explain the increase in mortality rates. The two factors that do appear to be important are alcohol consumption, especially as it relates to external causes of death (homicide, suicide, and accidents) and stress associated with a poor outlook for the future. However, a large residual remains to be explained.health, mortality, Russia, Eastern Europe

Autopsy on an Empire: Understanding Mortality in Russia and the Former Soviet Union

Male life expectancy at birth fell by over six years in Russia between 1989 and 1994. Many other countries of the former Soviet Union saw similar declines, and female life expectancy fell as well. Using cross-country and Russian household survey data, we assess six possible explanations for this upsurge in mortality. Most find little support in the data: the deterioration of the health care system, changes in diet and obesity, and material deprivation fail to explain the increase in mortality rates. The two factors that do appear to be important are alcohol consumption, especially as it relates to external causes of death (homicide, suicide, and accidents) and stress associated with a poor outlook for the future. However, a large residual remains to be explained.

Reassessing the Standard of Living in the Soviet Union: An Analysis Using Archival and Anthropometric Data

Both Western and Soviet estimates of GNP growth in the USSR indicate that GNP per capita grew in every decade – sometimes rapidly – from 1928 to 1985. While this measure suggests that the standard of living improved in the USSR throughout this period, it is unclear whether this economic growth translated into improved well-being for the population as a whole. This paper uses previously unpublished archival data on infant mortality and anthropometric studies of children conducted across the Soviet Union to reassess the standard of living in the USSR using these alternative measures of well-being. In the prewar period these data indicate a population extremely small in stature and sensitive to the political and economic upheavals visited upon the country by Soviet leaders and outside forces. Remarkably large and rapid improvements in infant mortality, birth weight, child height and adult stature were recorded from approximately 1940 to the late 1960s. While this period of physical growth was followed by stagnation in heights and an increase in adult male mortality, it appears that the Soviet Union avoided the sustained declines in stature that occurred in the United States and United Kingdom during industrialization in those countries.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40198/3/wp812.pd

Reassessing the Standard of Living in the Soviet Union: An Analysis Using Archival and Anthropometric Data

Both Western and Soviet estimates of GNP growth in the USSR indicate that GNP per capita grew in every decade – sometimes rapidly – from 1928 to 1985. While this measure suggests that the standard of living improved in the USSR throughout this period, it is unclear whether this economic growth translated into improved well-being for the population as a whole. This paper uses previously unpublished archival data on infant mortality and anthropometric studies of children conducted across the Soviet Union to reassess the standard of living in the USSR using these alternative measures of well-being. In the prewar period these data indicate a population extremely small in stature and sensitive to the political and economic upheavals visited upon the country by Soviet leaders and outside forces. Remarkably large and rapid improvements in infant mortality, birth weight, child height and adult stature were recorded from approximately 1940 to the late 1960s. While this period of physical growth was followed by stagnation in heights and an increase in adult male mortality, it appears that the Soviet Union avoided the sustained declines in stature that occurred in the United States and United Kingdom during industrialization in those countries.Soviet Union; Russia; height; health; standard of living

How Does Privatization Affect Workers? The Case of the Russian Mass Privatization Program

This paper explores the effect of mass privatization and the development of a new private sector in Russia on the wage and skill distributions in the private and state sectors of the economy. Two questions this paper seeks to answer are: (1) Does wage-setting behavior in privatized firms resemble that of state or private sector firms? And (2) Do rewards to skills differ between the state and private sectors? Analysis of two household surveys conducted over the 1990s indicates that there is a positive premium to work in private sector firms over state enterprises and privatized state enterprises, and that this differential is reduced but not eliminated by controlling for differences in firm and worker characteristics and in hours worked across sectors. Evidence also indicates that newly privatized state enterprises pay higher wages than state enterprises in some years, even though the distribution of skills and returns to skills in the two sectors appear to be quite similar throughout the period. Higher wages in privatized firms likely reflects rent-sharing between workers and managers rather than increased efficiency due to privatization, although the evidence is inconclusive on this point.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39687/3/wp303.pd

How Does Privatization Affect Workers? The Case of the Russian Mass Privatization Program

This paper explores the effect of mass privatization and the development of a new private sector in Russia on the wage and skill distributions in the private and state sectors of the economy. Two questions this paper seeks to answer are: (1) Does wage-setting behavior in privatized firms resemble that of state or private sector firms? And (2) Do rewards to skills differ between the state and private sectors? Analysis of two household surveys conducted over the 1990s indicates that there is a positive premium to work in private sector firms over state enterprises and privatized state enterprises, and that this differential is reduced but not eliminated by controlling for differences in firm and worker characteristics and in hours worked across sectors. Evidence also indicates that newly privatized state enterprises pay higher wages than state enterprises in some years, even though the distribution of skills and returns to skills in the two sectors appear to be quite similar throughout the period. Higher wages in privatized firms likely reflects rent-sharing between workers and managers rather than increased efficiency due to privatization, although the evidence is inconclusive on this point.privatization, wages, Russian labor market

Data Watch: Research Data from Transition Economies

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39800/3/wp416.pd