Job Search Behavior of the Unemployed in Russia

by Natalia Smirnova

This work presents a unique theoretical model, which combines elements from different job search models offered in the economic literature. Job search behavior of the unemployed in Russia during the first decade of economic transformation (1994-2000) is analyzed based on the data set constructed using public records from the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) conducted by the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina. The results show that sex, age and education are consistently significant factors for job search behavior of Russian unemployed. Surprisingly, such factors, as the presence of small children, the number of working-age adults in the household, residence in the metropolitan areas of Moscow and St. Petersburg are only significant for the search engagement decisions, but not for the selection of a particular strategy. Women and older individuals face a lower wage offer curve than men and prime-age individuals. People with secondary and college education, those who search more intensely, as well as those who accepted employment in the private sector, face a higher wage offer curve.

160 pages, Paperback

Published October 15, 2011

About the author

Natalia Smirnova was born in 1978 in Moscow. After studying law and working as a lawyer, she moved to St. Petersburg to become the foreign rights manager for a Russian publisher. In 2006 she cofounded the Goumen & Smirnova Literary Agency, with Julia Goumen, representing Russian authors worldwide. She is also the coeditor, with Julia Goumen, of Moscow Noir and St. Petersburg Noir anthologies, published by Akashic Books in US. Natalia left the agency in 2013, to explore new endeavors. She currently lives in Berlin, where she launched Babel Berlin Books shop.

See Наталья Смирнова