The Balassa-Samuelson hypothesis - i.e. that real exchange rates between each pair of countries increase with the tradables sector productivities ratio between these countries, and decrease with their non-tradables sector productivities ratio - has been one of the most prominent frameworks in...

We aim to put comparative price developments of transition economies in an international perspective. We argue that estimating simple price-productivity relationships without the inclusion of other explanatory factors connected to reform effort might severely bias estimates for CEEC and CIS...

Several post-Soviet states have introduced policies to improve the relative economic, political or social position of formerly disadvantaged populations. Using one example of such policies – “Kazakhisation” in Kazakhstan – we investigate their impact on the comparative earnings of two...

"Using a novel data set that contains precise geo-referenced information on the universe of German establishments, we analyse both the direct effects of mass layoffs and any indirect impacts on workers who are employed in the vicinity of an establishment being closed down. In line with the...

This paper analyses incomes and socioeconomic status of internal migrants over time and in comparison to their new neighbors and investigates whether status consumption is a way for newly arrived city dwellers to signal their social standing. Using a novel dataset from the emerging economy of...