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on Confederation of Independent States |
| By: | Popova, Daria |
| Abstract: | The Russian tax-benefit system consists of numerous types of support available to a large circle of beneficiaries; they are regulated by a number of legislative acts that focus on certain types of assistance rather than on vulnerable groups. In addition, the decentralization reform of social protection carried out in 2005 motivated many regional governments to implement their own social programs that differ in terms of design and generosity. So far, however, little is known about the impact of the tax-benefit policies on income distribution and poverty in Russia. This paper describes the construction of a tax-benefit microsimulation model for Russia (RUSMOD) which is based upon the EUROMOD platform. RUSMOD simulates the eligibility and receipt of most of the existing monetary policies at the federal and regional levels and assesses their potential redistributive effect. This paper aims to provide necessary background material on the construction of the model to anyone wishing to work with RUSMOD. |
| Date: | 2012–09–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:emodwp:em7-12&r=cis |
| By: | Tomas Frejka (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Sergei Zakharov |
| Abstract: | The transformation of traditional childbearing patterns of early family formation to later family formation characterized recent fertility trends in Russia. These were intrinsically interwoven with fundamental changes in all aspects of life of young people in the 1990s and the 2000s. The past quarter century was also marked by concern with low fertility and attempts to increase fertility in the early 1980s and the late 2000s. The family policies of the 1980s failed to raise fertility. Preliminary analyses indicate that the fate of the 2007 policies could be similar. In both cases the main emphasis was on material birth and child benefits, parental leaves and child care. Presumably insufficient attention was devoted to improving living conditions of young people and promoting gender equality. Will government efforts to raise fertility during the 2010s be sufficiently effective to offset economic and social forces challenging childbearing? As of 2012 the outlook for a future fertility increase does not appear hopeful. |
| Keywords: | Russian Federation, fertility |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2012-027&r=cis |
| By: | Benkovskis, Konstantins (BOFIT); Wörz, Julia (BOFIT) |
| Abstract: | This analysis of global competitiveness of emerging market economies accounts for non-price aspects of competitiveness. Building on the methodology pioneered by Feenstra (1994) and Broda and Weinstein (2006), we construct an export price index that adjusts for changes in the set of competitors (variety) and changes in non-price factors (quality in a broad sense) for nine emerging economies (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia and Turkey). The highly disaggregated dataset covers the period 19992010 and is based on the standardized 6-digit Harmonized System (HS). Unlike studies that use a CPI-based real effective exchange rate, our method highlights notable differences in non-price competitiveness across markets. China shows a huge gain in international competitiveness due to non-price factors, suggesting that China critics may be overstressing the role of renminbi undervaluation in explaining China’s competitive position. Oil exports account for strong improvement in Russia’s non-price competitiveness, as well as the modest losses of competitiveness for Argentina and Indonesia. Brazil, Chile, India and Turkey show discernible improvements in their competitive position when accounting for non-price factors. Mexico’s competitiveness deteriorates regardless of the index chosen. |
| Keywords: | non-price competitiveness; quality; relative export price; emerging countries |
| JEL: | C43 F12 F14 L15 |
| Date: | 2012–09–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2012_019&r=cis |
| By: | Galina Besstremyannaya (Center for Economic and Financial Research at New Economic School); Jaak Simm (Tokyo Institute of Technology, Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering) |
| Abstract: | The 1991 law ‘On health insurance for the citizens of the Russian Federation’ established that social health insurance is to be offered by multiple private insurance companies. The paper is the first econometric analysis measuring the effect of private health insurers on quality related outcomes of social health insurance (SHI) systems in Russian regions. The baseline model introduces regional SHI system as a binary variable with unity value corresponding to the presence of private health insurers as the only agents at the SHI market. The extended model captures endogeneity by employing an instrumental variable approach. The non-parametric model uses kernel regressions. The results of parametric and kernel regressions reveal that the presence of private insurers is a significant determinant of infant and under-five mortality. The positive impact of private insurers is explained by regional institutional reforms. The methods of provider reimbursement are related to infant and under-five mortality, which offers suggestive evidence for enabling insurer competition through selective contracting with health care providers. |
| Keywords: | social health insurance, infant mortality, under-five mortality, kernel regression, health care systems, health care quality, provider payment |
| JEL: | I10 I18 G22 R22 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfr:cefirw:w0177&r=cis |
| By: | Chiswick, Barry R. (George Washington University); Larsen, Nicholas (University of Illinois at Chicago) |
| Abstract: | Compared to other immigrants to the United States, recent Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union have achieved high levels of English language proficiency and earnings. They experience disadvantages in both dimensions at arrival, but because of steeper improvements with duration in the United States, they reach parity or surpass the English proficiency and earnings of other immigrants. This pattern is seen in the most recent data, the American Community Survey, 2005 to 2009, which is studied here, but also in earlier censuses (1980-2000). The Russian Jews, whether male or female, have higher levels of schooling and English proficiency. Moreover, they appear to secure greater earnings payoffs in the US labor market from their schooling, their labor market experience in the US, and their proficiency in English. What is perhaps remarkable is that the Russian Jewish immigrants from the late 19th and early 20th centuries (1881 to 1920's) also experienced high levels of human capital accumulation and economic success (measured by earnings or occupational attainment). And their US-born children achieved even greater successes compared to other native-born children. This is not emerging from a highly selective immigrant population. The Russian Jewish migration is a mass migration influenced, in part, by refugee motivations. This leads to the obvious but still unanswered question: What is it about the Jews of the Former Russian Empire/Soviet Union that has resulted in their high levels of success in the United States over the past 25 years? |
| Keywords: | Soviet Jews, immigrants, earnings, schooling, English language, proficiency, American Community Survey |
| JEL: | F22 J61 J31 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6854&r=cis |