Labor markets and labor market institutions in transition economies

This paper summarizes the evolution of labor markets and labor market institutions and policies in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe as well as of Central Asia over the last two decades. The main focus is on the evolution of labor market institutions, which are among candidate explanations for the very diverse trajectories of labor markets in the region. We consider recent contributions that attempt to assess the effect of labor market institutions on labor market performance of TEs, including the policy-relevant issue of complementarity of institutions.

The Wage and Non-wage Costs of Displacement: Evidence from Russia

This paper is the first to analyze the costs of job loss in Russia, using unique new data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey over the years 2003-2008, including a special supplement on displacement that was initiated by us. We employ fixed effects regression models and propensity score matching techniques in order to establish the causal effect of displacement for displaced individuals. The paper is innovative insofar as we investigate fringe and in-kind benefits and the propensity to have an informal employment relationship as well as a permanent contract as relevant labor market outcomes upon displacement. We also analyze monthly earnings, hourly wages, employment and hours worked, which are traditionally investigated in the literature. Compared to the control group of non-displaced workers (i.e. stayers and quitters), displaced individuals face a significant income loss following displacement, which is mainly due to the reduction in employment and hours worked. This effect is robust to the definition of displacement. The losses seem to be more pronounced and are especially large for older workers with labor market experience and human capital acquired in Soviet times and for workers with primary and secondary education. Workers displaced from state firms experience particularly large relative losses in the short run, while such losses for workers laid off from private firms are more persistent. Turning to the additional non-conventional labor market outcomes, there is a loss in terms of the number of fringe and in-kind benefits for reemployed individuals but not in terms of their value. There is also some evidence of an increased probability of working in informal jobs if displaced. These results point towards the importance of both firm-specific human capital and of obsolete skills obtained under the centrally planned economy as well as to a wider occurrence of job insecurity among displaced workers.

DRUG SAFETY DATA COVERAGE IN MEDICAL LITERATURE

The paper discusses whether it is expedient to use the standards approved by the editorial staff of a number of medical journals for original articles on the therapeutic effect of drugs, including antirheumatic agents since this is of importance for the analysis of their safety

РЕВОЛЮЦИОННО-КОНСЕРВАТИВНЫЙ ХАРАКТЕР И ИДЕЙНО-ПАТРИОТИЧЕСКАЯ ПРИРОДА ОТЕЧЕСТВЕННОЙ КУЛЬТУРЫ В ЛЕКЦИЯХ М. А. ЛИФШИЦА «О РУССКОЙ КУЛЬТУРЕ И ЕЕ МИРОВОМ ЗНАЧЕНИИ»

From the point of view of revolutionary conservatism and ideological patriotism, the author of the article analyzes the content of the lectures of M. A. Lifshitz ―On Russian Culture and Its World Significance‖. The first part of the article is devoted to the presentation of the theoretical principles put forward by Lifshitz, revealing the historical reasons for the world significance of domestic culture. Being in some contradictory unity, the features of Russian culture make up its feature necessary for the further development of mankind. It is based on the archaic state life of our people, that is, the patriarchal peasant world, in need of centralized power, which brings Russia to the East. It was on this backward and conservative basis, Lifshitz argues, that a very fruitful unity of movement from below and action from above developed, which provided our spiritual tradition with its uncompromising revolutionary spirit – the ability to radically solve issues confused by an underdeveloped Western civilization. The second part of the article reveals the internal connection of these provisions of Lifshitz with the underlying ideas of history and patriotism comprehended by representatives of classical German philosophyАвтор статьи с точки зрения революционного консерватизма и идейного патриотизма анализирует содержание лекций М. А. Лифшица «О русской культуре и ее мировом значении». Первая часть статьи посвящена изложению выдвинутых Лифшицем теоретических положений, раскрывающих исторические причины мировой значения отечественной культуры. Находясь в некотором противоречивом единстве, черты русской культуры составляют ее необходимую для дальнейшего развития человечества особенность. В основе ее лежит архаический государственный быт нашего народа, т. е. патриархальный крестьянский мир, нуждающийся в централизованной власти, который роднит Россию с Востоком. Именно на этой отсталой и консервативной основе, утверждает Лифшиц, сложилось весьма плодотворное единство движения снизу и действия сверху, что обеспечило нашей духовной традиции ее бескомпромиссную революционность – способность радикально решать вопросы, запутанные недоразвитой западной цивилизацией. Во второй части статьи выясняется внутренняя связь этих положений Лифшица с лежащими в их основании идеями истории и патриотизма, постигнутыми представителями классической немецкой философи