Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Erik Berglöf and Romesh Vaitilingam, Stuck in Transit: Rethinking Russian Economic Reform
Mitko Dimitrov, Wladimir Andreff and László Csaba, Economies in transition and the variety of capitalisms: features, changes, convergence
Vincent Edwards, Gennady Polonsky & Avgust Polonsky, The Russian Province after Communism. Enterprise Continuity and Change
Christian von Hirschhausen and Jürgen Bitzer, The Globalization of Industry and Innovation in Eastern Europe
Mario I. Blejer & Marko Skreb, Financial Sector Transformation. Lessons from Economies in Transition     

Gender Discrimination in Central Europe during the Systemic Transition

In this paper we measure the extent of gender discrimination on Central European labour markets (Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Slovak) during the first years of transition. Using Oaxaca's method and Social Stratification Survey data for 1993, we estimate that discrimination explains about half of the wage gap. Gender discrimination is significantly weaker in Hungary and stronger in Slovakia and Poland, where a large part of discrimination is tied to segregation. More fundamentally, we try to determine the nature of this discrimination; we conclude that discrimination is mainly statistical (both group and individual), but also deliberate, and the labour market is partly inefficient.     

Do Immigrants Affect Firm‐Specific Wages?*

We propose and test a novel effect of immigration on wages. Existing studies have focused on the wage effects that result from changes in the aggregate labour supply in a competitive labour market. We argue that if labour markets are not fully competitive, immigrants might also affect wage formation at the most disaggregate level – the workplace. Using linked employer?employee data, we find that an increased use of low‐skilled immigrant workers has a significantly negative effect on the wages of native workers at the workplace – also when controlling for potential endogeneity of the immigrant share using both fixed effects and instrumental variables.     

Spillover effects of a minimum wage increase – evidence from Slovenia

This article Analysis the effects of a large increase in Slovenia’s minimum wage in March 2010 on the wage distribution using an administrative matched employer–employee panel database. We find that the minimum wage hike increased the concentration of low-paid workers, creating a much more pronounced spike at the minimum, particularly in market services, and for the young, the least educated and those with the least work experience. Our analysis also shows that the March 2010 minimum wage increase also produced sizeable spillover effects. The spillover effects were higher among young and older workers, especially for wage levels near the new minimum wage. The results are based on a difference-in-differences approach comparing changes in wages during the control and treatment periods as experienced by workers in the wage group immediately above the level of the new minimum wage and workers in wage groups higher up in the wage distribution.     

Institutionalist Theories of the Wage Bargain: Beyond Demand and Supply

I distill an integrated structure of institutionalist theories of wage determination, linked by overarching views of reality and key principles, and show that three fundamental propositions connect these into one “extended family.” I then outline ten principles that reflect the models and propositions. While very different in form than the familiar Walrasian price-auction model, this relatively succinct approach to wage determination leads to many testable hypotheses. It also explains questions, such as: Why can the minimum wage not often be raised without causing unemployment? Why has wage inequality increased within occupations and educational levels, as well as between? Why does high pay tend to be accompanied by better benefits, working conditions, and on-the-job training (rather than compensating for the lack of one of these)? The insights of many contemporary institutional economists, including Robert Prasch, are particularly important to this analysis, along with earlier work of John R. Commons, John Dunlop, Lloyd Reynolds, and Lester Thurow.     

关于中国实行最低工资保障制度的思考

最低工资制度是否有效一直是学术界一个备受争议的问题。我国现阶段实行最低工资制度在微观层面缓解了劳资双方矛盾,保护了劳动者权益,对宏观经济层面也有正效应。针对当前的制度因素,应从立法、加强监管、加大财政支出等方面完善最低工资保障制度,以实现社会和谐发展。     

Labour Productivity: A Comparative Analysis of the European Union and United States, 1994–2007

This article confirms that labour productivity in the European economies has continued to slow down in recent years. U.S. productivity growth has been higher than in the EU, but only since 2001. At the same time, both economies have modified previous employment performance: EU employment growth is now higher than in U.S. This article proposes that productivity growth be explained by demand dynamics, and investment in particular, not forgetting the influence of employment, along with other factors such as new technologies.     

Registered nurses: the impact of wages on labour force participation and hours worked – are wages an effective mechanism for addressing RN shortages with evidence from 1960 to 2008?

Registered nurses (RNs) are critical producers and coordinators of patient care in acute and non-acute settings (Needleman et al. 2011). The Affordable Care Act coupled with an ageing population, are increasing demand for health care and, in turn, RNs. Numbering 3 million, RNs comprise the largest professional occupation in health care. Therefore, the labour force participation and hours worked are of keen interest to stakeholders and policymakers. Rising demand may exacerbate nursing shortages and have important effects on costs. We estimate the impact of wages on participation and hours worked as a possible policy tool to increase nursing supply. In 2008, the RN wage had a positive and significant effect on participation and a small positive but only marginally significant effect on hours worked given participation. The latter elasticity for married females (single females) was 0.11 (0.33). Therefore, the elasticity of hours worked with respect to the nurse wage is and unlikely to have an important effect on the participation rates or hours worked of currently trained female RNs. Consequently, wage increases are unlikely to be an effective policy to increase the labour supply among the currently licensed RNs and will not relieve any short-term nursing shortage.     

Fairness and the employment contract: North American regions versus Germany

Substantial evidence shows that North Americans are generallymore accepting of the market than Europeans and attribute marketoutcomes to a larger degree to effort or skill. Thus, NorthAmericans might be more accepting of layoffs and pay cuts thanGermans, and Germans might be more sensitive to the proceduresand conditions under which pay cuts and layoffs occur. The empiricalresults from our quasi-experiment are largely in line with thesehypotheses. The results may help to explain and be explainedby the different labour market institutions in the differentregions.     

The unequal distribution of unequal pay – An empirical analysis of the gender wage gap in Switzerland

In this paper we analyze the distribution of the gender wage gap. Using microdata for Switzerland we estimate conditional wage distribution functions and find that the total wage gap and its discrimination component are not constant over the range of wages. At low wages an overproportional part of the wage gap is due to discrimination. In a further analysis of specific individuals we examine the wage gap at different quantiles and propose a new measure to assess equal earnings opportunities. These additional results reveal that it is primarily low education that causes the large discrimination component at low wages. First version received: April 1999/Final version accepted: July 2000