Labor Hoarding in Russia: Where Does it Come From?

The paper focuses on the labor "hoarding" problem in Russian. We studied two forms of "hoarding": unpaid leaves and short-time work. Our research is based on the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) database. The paper exploits individual panel data between 1994 and 1996. We show that unpaid leaves and short-time work do not represent a form of hidden unemployment. Both types of labor "hoarding" reflect the nature of employees' professional competencies. First, unpaid leaves concern primarily the employees with firm-specific knowledge, while short-time work affects strongly unskilled workers. Second, external mobility is mostly related to young people and unskilled blue-collar workers while employees with specific competencies do not change jobs so much. The paper insists on significant internal adjustments which are taking place through unpaid leaves and short-time work. This explains why there has been no massive unemployment in Russia until now. In conclusion, Russian labor market is characterized rather by internal flexibility than by labor "hoarding".http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39778/3/wp394.pd

Labor Hoarding in Russia: Where Does it Come From?

The paper focuses on the labor "hoarding" problem in Russian. We studied two forms of "hoarding": unpaid leaves and short-time work. Our research is based on the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) database. The paper exploits individual panel data between 1994 and 1996. We show that unpaid leaves and short-time work do not represent a form of hidden unemployment. Both types of labor "hoarding" reflect the nature of employees' professional competencies. First, unpaid leaves concern primarily the employees with firm-specific knowledge, while short-time work affects strongly unskilled workers. Second, external mobility is mostly related to young people and unskilled blue-collar workers while employees with specific competencies do not change jobs so much. The paper insists on significant internal adjustments which are taking place through unpaid leaves and short-time work. This explains why there has been no massive unemployment in Russia until now. In conclusion, Russian labor market is characterized rather by internal flexibility than by labor "hoarding".labor market, internal adjustments, flexibility. Russia, skills

Labor Hoarding In Russia: Where Does It Come From?

The paper focuses on the labor "hoarding" problem in Russian. We studied two forms of "hoarding": unpaid leaves and short-time work. Our research is based on the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) database. The paper exploits individual panel data between 1994 and 1996. We show that unpaid leaves and short-time work do not represent a form of hidden unemployment. Both types of labor "hoarding" reflect the nature of employees' professional competencies. First, unpaid leaves concern primarily the employees with firm-specific knowledge, while short-time work affects strongly unskilled workers. Second, external mobility is mostly related to young people and unskilled blue-collar workers while employees with specific competencies do not change jobs so much. The paper insists on significant internal adjustments which are taking place through unpaid leaves and short-time work. This explains why there has been no massive unemployment in Russia until now. In conclusion, Russian labor market is characterized rather by internal flexibility than by labor "hoarding".labor market; internal adjustments; flexibility; Russia; skills.

Le modèle d'Aoki face aux modes de coordination de type soviétique et post-soviétique

This paper is an attempt to apply the model of M. Aoki in order to get a more comprehensive vision of the « atypical » unemployment in Russia. According to Aoki? approach, three main aspects of the firm? internal organization are studied. First we insist on the continuous relation between Soviet and Post-Soviet enterprises, both of them being largely based on the decentralized principles of coordination. Second we establish a connection between external factors and coordination rules. The behaviour of the Russian firms is considered as a flexible reaction in on extremely instable environment context. Finally the motivation system which is compatible with theses labour adjustments is based on the internalization of the incentives in order to preserve the organizational knowledge.Classification JEL : P31, L2, D2

Conventions in Herbert Simon's theory of bounded rationality

This paper offers a reconstruction of Herbert Simon's decision theory from the conventionalist point of view. It is argued that Simon defined two types of conventions in organizational settings: the first one was specified as a set of customary rules in the workplace, the second one as a shared cognitive model of reality. This paper emphasizes the importance of that approach for economic psychology and its connections with T. Schelling's project of the reorientation of the game theory. The implication of revisiting Simon from the conventionalist viewpoint is that not only may such an approach provide a solution to coordination problems, which is psychologically reliable, but it also leads to a decision paradigm, according to which understanding problems of coordination is impossible without taking into consideration individual cognitive limits and social representations of reality.Bounded rationality Organizational behavior Coordination problems Conventions Mental representations

Simon (Herbert)

L’idée de la rationalité limitée est un fondement majeur de l’Économie des conventions et se trouve au cœur du programme qui associe la problématique de la coordination aux problématiques des valeurs et de la cognition (Favereau, 1989a, 1998, 1999, 2006). Or beaucoup d’éléments essentiels de cette approche de la rationalité, notamment la conceptualisation des représentations mentales, restent encore assez sous-exploités par le projet conventionnaliste. Après avoir présenté la théorie de la ra..

Règles, pouvoir et travail dans les entreprises soviétiques et post-soviétiques

The analysis of the rules and relations of power (borrowed from the theories of J.-D. Reynaud, O. Favereau and M. Crozier) is applied to the way work is organized in Soviet (S) and post-Soviet (P) firms. By taking the coordination of work in a Soviet firm as a starting point, we can understand both certain aspects of changes in the post-Socialist labour market in Russia and new patterns in labour relations and power inside Russian companies. An explanation can thus be proposed about why production and employment have broken down in this nation's economy.L'analyse théorique des règles et des rapports de pouvoir, empruntée à J.-D. Reynaud, O. Favereau et M. Crozier, est appliquée au mode d'organisation du travail dans les entreprise soviétiques (S) et post-soviétiques (P). Dans ce cadre, l'étude de la coordination du travail dans l'entreprise S est le point de départ qui permet de comprendre certains aspects de l'évolution post-socialiste du marché du travail en Russie et les nouvelles configurations des rapports de travail et de pouvoir à l'intérieur des entreprises russes. À partir de ces analyses, il est possible de proposer une explication de la rupture observée dans les dynamiques de la production et de l'emploi de l'économie russe.Koumakhov Rouslan. Règles, pouvoir et travail dans les entreprises soviétiques et post-soviétiques. In: Revue d'études comparatives Est-Ouest, vol. 29, 1998, n°2. Les transformations du travail et de l'emploi en Europe de l'Est depuis 1990, sous la direction de Dominique Redor. pp. 143-175

La question des sureffectifs en Russie. Une explication en termes de compétences

[fre] Le texte aborde le problème des sureffectifs dans les entreprises russes, à partir de la base de données RLMS. Il s'attache à décrire deux formes particulières du phénomène : les congés administratifs (congés imposés par l'employeur, non rémunérés ou partiellement rémunérés) et le travail à temps partiel. Les firmes ont recours aux congés administratifs pour préserver les compétences spécifiques à l'entreprise, tandis que l'emploi des non-qualifiés est plutôt lié au temps partiel. L'article met l'accent sur la flexibilité interne propre à l'entreprise qui est rendue possible par ces pratiques. [eng] This paper studies the problem of labour hoarding in Russia, using the rlms database. We analyse two particular forms of this phenomenon: administrative (compulsory, non paid or partially paid) leaves and short-time work. We show that these forms are related to different types of workers' skills and professional seg­ments. Firms use administrative leaves in order to keep employees having firm-specific competencies, while the unskilled workers' employment is more linked to the short-time work. The article argues that both employment practices should be rather considered as forms of internal flexibility of Russian enterprises than as hidden unemployment or labour hoarding.

La question des sureffectifs en Russie Une explication en termes de compétences

Accessible sur Cairn : http://www.cairn.info/revue-economique.htmNational audienceThis paper studies the problem of labour hoarding in Russia, using the RLMS database. We analyse two particular forms of this phenomenon: administrative (compulsory, non paid or partially paid) leaves and short-time work. We show that these forms are related to different types of workers' skills and professional segments. Firms use administrative leaves in order to keep employees having firmspecific competencies, while the unskilled workers' employment is more linked to the short-time work. The article argues that both employment practices should be rather considered as forms of internal flexibility of Russian enterprises than as hidden unemployment or labour hoarding.Le texte aborde le problème des sureffectifs dans les entreprises russes, à partir de la base de données RLMS. Il s'attache à décrire deux formes particulières du phénomène : les congés administratifs (congés imposés par l'employeur, non rémunérés ou partiellement rémunérés) et le travail à temps partiel. Les firmes ont recours aux congés administratifs pour préserver les compétences spécifiques à l'entreprise, tandis que l'emploi des non-qualifiés est plutôt lié au temps partiel. L'article met l'accent sur la flexibilité interne propre à l'entreprise qui est rendue possible par ces pratiques