Labour market reform in the USSR : fact or fiction?

Digitised version produced by the EUI Library and made available online in 2020

Targeting and Self-Targeting in a New Social Assistance Scheme

The analysis of targeting of cash benefits is typically silent on whether any success is due to encouraging claims from the poor or to the decisions of administrators on the claims they receive. By contrast, the paper models the probabilities of households? knowledge of a new social assistance scheme, of a claim conditional on knowledge, and of an award conditional on knowledge and claim. It uses household survey data from Uzbekistan where a new social assistance benefit is administered by community organisations. The paper therefore also illustrates problems of design of decentralised social assistance schemes in developing countries

The Soviet labour market in transition

Defence date: 3 February 1992Examining board: Prof. A. B. Atkinson (London School of Economics) ; Prof. S. Malle (Università di Verona) ; Prof. A. McAuley (University of Essex) ; Prof. J. Micklewright (European University Institute, supervisor) ; Prof. D.M. Nuti (European Commission, Brussels, supervisor)PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digitised archive of EUI PhD theses completed between 2013 and 201

Poverty in Pre-Reform Uzbekistan - What Do Official Data Really Reveal

Using 1989 household survey data, we investigate large differences in poverty measured with a conventional all-Union per capita income line between Uzbekistan, the largest Central Asian republic of the former U.S.S.R., and Ukraine as an example of a European republic. We show that (i) differences between the two countries in the distribution of household size is not the main explanation, (ii) undervaluation of agricultural income in kind understates the welfare of rural households, something of particular importance in Uzbekistan, and (iii) indicators of food consumption provide important additional information. Lessons are drawn for the measurement of poverty in post-Union Uzbekistan

Demographic Challenges and the Implications for Children in CEE/CIS

The first part of this paper documents the striking changes in population size and structures which have occurred since the beginning of transition, and which have led to a substantial reduction in the child population. It is argued that they have been mainly driven by the drop in birth rates which has characterised the whole region, but which has been most dramatic in the CEE and Western CIS. Some countries in these subregions now rank among those with the lowest levels of fertility in the world, and the shrinking cohorts of children in these countries face the prospect of a growing old-age dependency burden. The second part of the paper discusses recent data on infant and under-five mortality, which are direct measures of child well-being, and of the success of policy measures aimed at improving child survival and development. The paper highlights the marked differences not only in levels, but also in progress in reducing mortality rates across the CEE/CIS.birth rate; child mortality; child survival; demographic change; right to survival and development; under five mortality rate;Central Europe; Eastern Europe; Russia;

The Transition Generation: Young people in school and work in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States

This paper focuses on the transition from school to labour market for the generation of young people in CEE/CIS who experienced the most turbulent years of the transition in their formative years. Using administrative data on school enrolment, as well as data from labour force surveys, the paper tracks the main trends in education enrollments in primary, lower and upper secondary, showing that the impact of the economic difficulties of the early 1990s was greater in the poorest countries of the region, and was reflected in particular in falling enrollments for the non-compulsory levels of education. The post-1998 period of economic recovery brought with it a marked divergence between upper secondary education enrollments in the Central and Eastern European countries, and the rest of the region. However, data on enrollments give only a partial picture of what happened to the school system during the transition; statistics on attendance and achievements from other data sources suggest that inequality in school access and quality increased both across the region and within countries. Education trends (using indicators measuring both quantity and quality) influence outcomes in the labour market, but can also be influenced by them: labour force surveys’ results show that young people in CEE/CIS face a high risk of unemployment or underemployment. At the same time, in particular in CEE, lack of employment opportunities encourages young people to stay longer in the education system. Mismatches between the outcomes of the education systems and labour market demand, as well as the character of recent economic growth, have resulted in significant imbalances in the labour market.transition from school to work; transitional economies; youth;Baltic States; Eastern Europe; Russia;

Targeting and self-targeting in a new social assistance programme

The analysis of targeting of cash benefits is typically silent on whether any success is due to encouraging claims from the poor or to the decisions of administrators on the claims they receive. By contrast, the paper models the probabilities of households’ knowledge of a new social assistance scheme, of a claim conditional on knowledge, and of an award conditional on knowledge and claim. It uses household survey data from Uzbekistan where a new social assistance benefit is administered by community organisations. The paper therefore also illustrates problems of design of decentralised social assistance schemes in developing countries

Targeting Social Assistance in a Transition Economy: the Mahallas in Uzbekistan

Falling output and living standards have pushed countries in transition from the socialist system to re-consider how best to target public resources on those in need. The paper investigates the workings of a new social assistance benefit in Uzbekistan, the largest of the former Soviet Central Asian republics, administered by community organizations, the Mahallas. Data are used from a 1995 household survey to assess the scheme's success in targeting the most vulnerable households, using a variety of indicators including income, durable goods ownership, agricultural assets, employment status, and the anthropometric status of children. The separate probabilities of knowledge of the scheme, of application for benefit, and of award are modelled.Central Asia; Social Assistance; Targeting; Uzbekistan