Download or read book Is Russia Restructuring written by Harry G. Broadman and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2001 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The authors explore the labor dynamics of Russian enterprise restructuring, empirically assessing how patterns of job creation and destruction are related to various aspects of enterprise restructuring across firms in different sectors and regions, and to different forms, sizes, vintages, and performance characteristics of ownership. Evidence from case studies - based on more than 50 site visits in 2000 - suggests that jobs have been destroyed, but only to a limited degree in some sectors and regions, largely because of institutional and incentive constraints and a still-widespread "socialist" corporate culture. Jobs have been created - particularly in sectors where devaluation had the most pronounced effect on important substitution and export promotion - but only slowly, mostly for lack of skilled workers and because regional mobility is limited. Labor turnover appears higher within regions than across regions. Newly available data for 1996 - 99 (provided by Goskomstat) for about 128,000 enterprises in 24 industrial sectors in Russia's 89 regions indicates that the typical firm has experienced only modest downsizing - about 12 percent - in number of employees. Smaller firms have entered, and larger, mature businesses have exited some sectors. Except for a lull in 1998, the rate of job creation has steadily increased and the rate of job destruction has declined, dropping substantially in 1998 - 99. "Voluntary" worker separations remain the main - and growing - form of layoff, and the proportion of layoffs through redundancies is shrinking (now about 4 percent of total separations). Firm size and net employment growth are not statistically related, but form of ownership seems to matter. Firm size is also statistically correlated (positively) with profitability, but restructuring through changes in net employment growth appears not to be. It seems Russian restructuring needs to become more efficient.

Download or read book Is Russia Restructuring New Evidence on Job Creation and Destruction written by Harry G. Broadman and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 43 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A dynamic market - one th ...

Download or read book The Ability of Banks to Lend to Informationally Opaque Small Businesses written by N. Allen Berger and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1999 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: August 2001 Large and foreign-owned institutions may have difficulty extending relationship loans to informationally opaque small firms. Bank distress does not appear to affect small business lending, although even small firms may react to bank distress by borrowing from multiple banks. Consolidation of the banking industry is shifting assets into larger institutions that often operate in many nations. Large international financial institutions are geared toward serving large wholesale customers. How does this affect the banking system's ability to lend to informationally opaque small businesses? Berger, Klapper, and Udell test hypotheses about the effects of bank size, foreign ownership, and distress on lending to informationally opaque small firms, using a rich new data set on Argentinean banks, firms, and loans. They also test hypotheses about borrowing from a single bank versus borrowing from several banks. Their results suggest that large and foreign-owned institutions may have difficulty extending relationship loans to opaque small firms, especially if small businesses are delinquent in repaying their loans. Bank distress resulting from lax prudential supervision and regulation appears to have no greater effect on small borrowers than on large borrowers, although even small firms may react to bank distress by borrowing from multiple banks, despite raising borrowing costs and destroying some of the benefits of exclusive lending relationships. This paper--a product of Finance, Development Research Group--is part of a larger effort in the group to study small and medium size firm financing. The authors may be contacted at [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected].

Download or read book Trade Reform and Household Welfare written by Elena Ianchovichina and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1999 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Results from a two-step simulation that uses a computable general equilibrium model and detailed consumption and income household data suggests that trade liberalization benefits people in the poorest deciles more than those in the richer ones.

Download or read book Small and Medium size Enterprise Financing in Eastern Europe written by Leora Klapper and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2002 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is currently a large interest in understanding firms' access to finance, particularly in the financing of small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). But the financing patterns of SMEs across countries is not well understood. For example, little is known about the relative importance of equity, debt, and inter-firm financing for SMEs across countries. The authors use the Amadeus database, which includes financial information on over 97,000 private and publicly traded firms in 15 Eastern and Central European countries. The Amadeus database allows the authors the opportunity to provide a new analysis of the general financing patterns of private firms across a large sample of Eastern European countries. The summary statistics show that the size of the SME sector (as measured by the percentage of total employment) in Eastern European countries is smaller than in most developed economies. Although the authors find in almost every country in the sample a large number of SMEs as a percentage of total firms, the SMEs in Eastern Europe are generally small and hire few employees. However, SMEs seem to constitute the most dynamic sector of the Eastern European economies, relative to large firms. In general, the SME sector comprises relatively younger, more highly leveraged, and more profitable and faster growing firms. This suggests that a new type of firm is emerging in transition economies that is more market- and profit-oriented. But at the same time, these firms appear to have financial constraints that impede their access to long-term financing and ability to grow.

Download or read book Foreign Direct Investment and Integration Into Global Production and Distribution Networks written by Bart?omiej Kami?ski and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2001 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Integration into the production and marketing arrangements of multinational corporations may offer many benefits to transition economies that, after a long period of isolation, have liberalized trade and investment. The fragmentation of production offers a unique opportunity for producers in developing countries to move from servicing small local markets to supplying large firms abroad and, indirectly, their customers all over the world.

Download or read book Local Institutions Poverty and Household Welfare in Bolivia written by Christiaan Grootaert and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2001 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The authors empirically estimate the impact of social capital on household welfare in Bolivia--where they found 67 different types of local associations. They focus on household memberships in local associations as being especially relevant to daily decisions that affect household welfare and consumption. On average, households belong to 1.4 groups and associations: 62 percent belong to agrarian syndicates, 16 percent to production groups, 13 percent to social service groups, and 10 percent to education and health groups. Smaller numbers belong to religious and government groups. Agrarian syndicates, created by government decree in 1952, are now viewed mainly as community-initiated institutions to manage conmunal resources. They have been registered as legal entities to work closely with municipalities to represent the interests and priorities of local people in municipal decisionmaking. The effects of social capital operate through (at least) three mechanisms: sharing of information among association members; the reduction of opportunistic behavior; and better collective decisionmaking. The effect of social capital on household welfare was found to be 2.5 times that of human capital. Increasing the average educational endowment of each adult in the household by one year (about a 2.5-percent increase) would increase per capita household spending 4.2 percent; a similar increase in the social capital endowment would increase spending 9 to 10.5 percent. They measured social capital along six dimensions: density of memberships, internal heterogeneity of associations (by gender, age, education, religion, etc.), meeting attendance, active participation in decisionmaking, payment of dues (in cash and in kind), and community orientation. The strongest effect came from number of memberships. Active membership in an agrarian syndicate is associated with an average 11.5 percent increase in household spending. Membership in another local association is associated with a 5.3-percent higher spending level. Empirical results partly confirm the hypothesis that social capital provides long-term benefits such as better access to credit and a higher level of trust in the community as a source of assistance in case of need.

Download or read book Unleashing Russia s Business Potential written by Harry G. Broadman and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Russia needs to continue to assess and improve its business environment in order to ensure continuing investment and sustained growth. Currently many of the new businesses are being established in the larger urban areas but similar new businesses need to develop at the regional level. This book, based on in-depth case studies of more than 70 companies across 13 regions in Russia, examines four areas key to institutional development, and formulates policy recommendations. Topics include: the determinants of inter-enterprise competition and market structure at the local level; the regulatory regime governing the price, supply and access to local infrastructure services; access to corporate finance in regional markets; and the legal system for resolution of commercial disputes.

Download or read book Labor Market Flexibility Flexicurity and Employment written by T. Paas and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book aims to throw light upon the main changes in the Baltic states' labour markets, laying emphasis on the labour market flexibility, flexicurity and employment issues in the context of the EU eastward enlargement. The European labour markets of both old (EU-15) and new (EU-10) member states are facing big challenges in their current development. There are high expectations connected with improvement of competitiveness of European economy and enlargement of Euro area. Flexible labour markets help to maintain the expected quick economic growth and to adjust to possible asymmetric shocks of Euro area development. The particular significance of the labour market flexibility is also outlined by the Optimal Currency Area Theory (Mundell, 1961), which forms the theoretical framework for the EMU. At the same time a significant increase of labour market flexibility may due to possible increased employment and consequently also income insecurity causing weakening cohesion of a society. to rely on the European social model which stresses the importance of high social security, including also employment security. For improvement of economic growth and competitiveness, the new concept called flexicurity has been introduced. Flexicurity as a policy option in general meaning several ways of social protection for a flexible workforce, which may support social cohesion and sustainable economic growth in the long run perspective. This book brings together new research in this exciting field of economical studies.

Download or read book Rapid Labor Reallocation with a Stagnant Unemployment Pool written by Jan Rutkowski and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2002 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lithuania is a transition economy undergoing rapid enterprise restructuring associated with substantial job turnover. At the same time, unemployment in Lithuania is high and of long duration. This presents a puzzle: high job turnover epitomizes labor market flexibility, while high unemployment indicates labor market rigidities. What are the reasons behind this paradox? Why do the unemployed not benefit from job opportunities created by high job turnover, which entails high rates of job creation and hiring? To answer this question, the author looks at three perspectives on labor market flexibility: 1) The macroeconomic perspective-A flexible labor market is one that facilitates full use and efficient allocation of labor resources. 2) The worker perspective-A flexible labor market means ease in finding a job paying a wage adequate to the worker's effort and skills. 3) The employer perspective-A flexible labor market does not unduly constrain the employer's ability to adjust employment and wages to changing market conditions. The author looks at all three dimensions of labor market flexibility by analyzing job reallocation, worker transitions across labor force states, wage distribution, and regulatory constraints faced by employers. He focuses on the issue of job creation and job destruction, using micro level data on all registered firms. He finds that flexibility in one dimension can concur with rigidities in the other. Specifically, employers in Lithuania have a substantial degree of flexibility with employment adjustment coupled with limited flexibility to wage adjustment due to a high statutory minimum wage. The relatively rigid wage structure locks low productivity workers who are preponderant among the unemployed. The low-skilled long-term unemployed have become marginalized and unable to successfully compete for available jobs, while the high job turnover is accounted for largely by job-to-job transitions. As a result, a dynamic labor market coincides with a stagnant unemployment pool.

Download or read book Inequality Convergence written by Martin Ravallion and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is income inequality tending to fall in countries with high inequality and to rise in those where inequality is low? Is there a process of convergence toward medium-level inequality?

Download or read book Methodologies to Measure the Gender Dimensions of Crime and Violence written by Elizabeth Shrader and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2001 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Prevalence rate of violence, as measured by such indicators as domestic assault, homicide, and crime victimization, varies widely locally and worldwide, suggesting that violent behavior is modifiable and preventable. Developing standardized, accurate ways to measure and map violence across communities and countries is the first step toward developing programs to prevent it.

Download or read book Human Resource Management in Russia written by Michel E. Domsch and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-11-30 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Investigating Human Resource Management issues in Russia, this volume looks at the current state of Human Resource practice within Russian enterprises; its various problems and possible solutions. Following a detailed introduction into the current economic developments taking place in Russia, the book examines the new role of the HR department in Russian enterprises, and the influence of national politics on HR practice. The book also discusses key HRM issues such as recruitment and selection, training and development, payment and compensation, before surveying the various HR problems encountered by multinational companies working in Russia.

Download or read book Taxation and Public Finance in Transition and Developing Economies written by Robert W. McGee and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-08-25 with total page 670 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Topics in this comprehensive survey include bureaucracy, corruption and tax compliance; public finance in developing economies; taxation in several former Soviet republics, Eastern Europe and China; taxation in the enlarged European Union; tax harmonization vs. tax competition; and the philosophy of taxation and public finance. The editor has assembled a stellar group of authorities to write about their areas of expertise.

Download or read book At Home Abroad written by Henry R. Nau and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States has never felt at home abroad. The reason for this unease, even after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, is not frequent threats to American security. It is America's identity. The United States, its citizens believe, is a different country, a New World of divided institutions and individualistic markets surviving in an Old World of nationalistic governments and statist economies. In this Old World, the United States finds no comfort and alternately tries to withdraw from it and reform it. America cycles between ambitious internationalist efforts to impose democracy and world order, and more nationalist appeals to trim multilateral commitments and demand that the European and Japanese allies do more. In At Home Abroad, Henry R. Nau explains that America is still unique but no longer so very different. All the industrial great powers in western Europe (and, arguably, also Japan) are now strong liberal democracies. A powerful and peaceful new world exists beyond America's borders and anchors America's identity, easing its discomfort and ending the cycle of withdrawal and reform. Nau draws on constructivist and realist perspectives to show how relative national identities interact with relative national power to define U.S. national interests. He provides fresh insights for U.S. grand strategy toward various countries. In Europe, the identity and power perspective advocates U.S. support for both NATO expansion to consolidate democratic identities in eastern Europe and concurrent, but separate, great-power cooperation with Russia in the United Nations. In Asia, this perspective recommends a shift of U.S. strategy from bilateralism to concentric multilateralism, starting with an emerging democratic security community among the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India, and Taiwan, and progressively widening this community to include reforming ASEAN states and, if it democratizes, China. In the developing world, Nau's approach calls for balancing U.S. moral (identity) and material (power) commitments, avoiding military intervention for purely moral reasons, as in Somalia, but undertaking such intervention when material threats are immediate, as in Afghanistan, or material and moral stakes coincide, as in Kosovo.

Download or read book Local Economic and Employment Development LEED Baltic Partnerships Integration Growth and Local Governance in the Baltic Sea Region written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2007-03-22 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Baltic Sea Region is rapidly becoming one of the world’s more competitive regions. The region is capitalising on its strengths and making the most of its diversity to stimulate innovation, build a strong pool of skilled labour and foster ...

Download or read book Learning to Labour in Post Soviet Russia written by Charles Walker and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-11-12 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the changing nature of growing-up working-class in post-Soviet Russia, a country dislocated by the experience of neo-liberal economic reform. Based on extensive ethnographic research in a provincial Russian region, it follows the experiences of vocational education graduates whose colleges continue to channel them into the ailing industrial and agricultural sectors. Rather than settling for transitions into ‘poor work’, the book shows how these young men and women develop a range of strategies aimed at overcoming the poverty of opportunity available to them in traditional enterprises, pursuing instead emerging opportunities in higher education, jobs in the new service sector and the prospect of migration. Drawing on a range of theoretical perspectives, Charles Walker analyses these strategies and their significance for wider processes of social change and social stratification in post-Soviet Russia.