Russian Federation - The myth of monopoly : a new view of industrial structure in Russia

Discussion of economic reform in the Russian Federation is colored by the conventional view of Russia's industrial structure. Both in Russia and in the West, Russian industry is characterized as very large enterprises operating in highly concentrated industries. The authors challenge the conventional view. They assess Russian industrial concentration by comparing the Russian industrial structure (as revealed in the 1989 Soviet Census of Industry) with that in the United States and other countries. They find that very large firms are more prevalent in the United States than in Russia. This empirical fact suggests that planners economized on the costs of central economic coordination not by building unusually large enterprises, but by not building very small enterprises. Their most important finding: that there is little aggregate or industry concentration at the national level in Russia. Monopolies and oligopolies actually account for only a small share of national employment and production. Instead, barriers to competition in Russia arise as a result of highly segmented product markets. In large part, this segmentation can be viewed as a legacy of central planning. Under the prior regime, enterprises were highly isolated, divided alone both ministerial and geographical lines. Presently, these barriers are reinforced by some features of the transitional environment that continue to undermine the efficient distribution of goods. The authors conclude that the traditional policy remedies appropriate for problems of concentration (such as antitrust policy and import competition) may be ill-advised or inadequate for addressing problems of imperfect competition in the Russian economy. They argue instead that improving the distribution system and other market infrastructure that supports trade and facilitating the entry of new firms should be the most critical elements of competition policy in Russia.Microfinance,Small Scale Enterprise,Private Participation in Infrastructure,Banks&Banking Reform,Water and Industry

When Is Transition Over?

The transition process in which a country moves from a planned economy to a market economy offers a unique opportunity for economists and policymakers to observe and understand the effects of major institutional, legal, and political changes on economic systems. But one feature of the process that has not been considered until now is when is the process over? When has a transition progressed far enough to ensure that a market system will survive and mature? Are there institutional, economic, and political standards that countries reach that measure the level of transition attained or, indeed, show that they have completed transition?https://research.upjohn.org/up_press/1190/thumbnail.jp

A note on industrial adjustment and regional labor markets in Russia

The journal did not include an abstract for this article

The Economic Determinants of the Internal Migration Flows in Russia During Transition

I analyze the patterns of migration by testing the influence of traditional economic and amenity factors and of housing market reform on the direction of migration flows. I improve on the few previous studies of Russian migration during transition by analyzing gross flows rather than net flows in order to properly distinguish effects, and by analyzing a much wider set of factors. The results indicate that even early in transition, migration responds to average wages and prices. In particular, higher average wages and lower prices positively determine immigration. Higher average wages also positively determine outmigration. Apartment privatization significantly affects migration even after only the first year of the reform. Amenity and demographic factors generally influence migration as expected. Several checks confirm the robustness of these results.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39479/3/wp89.pd

A note on industrial adjustment and regional labor markets in Russia

The journal did not include an abstract for this article

The Economic Determinants of the Internal Migration Flows in Russia During Transition

I analyze the patterns of migration by testing the influence of traditional economic and amenity factors and of housing market reform on the direction of migration flows. I improve on the few previous studies of Russian migration during transition by analyzing gross flows rather than net flows in order to properly distinguish effects, and by analyzing a much wider set of factors. The results indicate that even early in transition, migration responds to average wages and prices. In particular, higher average wages and lower prices positively determine immigration. Higher average wages also positively determine outmigration. Apartment privatization significantly affects migration even after only the first year of the reform. Amenity and demographic factors generally influence migration as expected. Several checks confirm the robustness of these results.

A Review of the Evidence of Harm from Self-Tests

Although HIV self-testing may overcome some barriers to HIV testing, various stakeholders have expressed concerns that HIV self-testing may lead to unintended harm, including psychological, social and medical harm. Recognizing that similar concerns were raised in the past for some other self-tests, we conduct a review of the literature on a set of self-tests that share some characteristics with HIV self-tests to determine whether there is any evidence of harm. We find that although the potential for harm is discussed in the literature on self-tests, there is very little evidence that such harm occurs

Does Market Structure Matter? New Evidence from Russia

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39575/3/wp188.pd

Does Market Structure Matter? New Evidence from Russia

market structure, competition, concentration, structure conduct, performance, transition