nep-cis 2008-07-30 papers

on Confederation of Independent States

Issue of 2008‒07‒30
two papers chosen by
Anna Y. Borodina
Perm State University

Upsetting Events and Career Investments in the Russian Context By Konstantin Korotov; Svetlana Khapova
The Changing Intra-Household Resource Allocation in Russia By Guy Lacroix; Natalia Radtchenko

Upsetting Events and Career Investments in the Russian Context

By:	Konstantin Korotov (ESMT European School of Management and Technology); Svetlana Khapova (VU University, Amsterdam)
Abstract:	In this paper we examine the role of disruptive or upsetting events in people’s professional lives and explore how they influence individuals’ investments in their careers. Based on previous research we have assumed that due to considerable societal and economic changes in Russia and the reported negative consequences felt by many individuals, the context of that country is a fruitful arena for an investigation of the role of upsetting events on individuals’ careers. At the same time, despite the negative events and a disruption of many traditional career-supporting structures, a significant number of Russians managed to reinvent their careers and achieve tremendous objective and subjective success in their careers in a relatively short time period. This paper examines stories about career investments of 140 successful entrepreneurs from Russia. A significant portion of these people explicitly reported influence of upsetting events on their own career investments. Based on the exploration of career stories, the paper introduced a typology of the upsetting events in the Russian context. The events were generally classified into those that represented “macro” and “micro” upsetting events. Macro events refer to changes in socio-economic, and political systems. Micro events refer to the events that only concern the individual him- or herself, or may include events at work or at home. Our analysis of the career investments of the Russian entrepreneurs using the intelligent career concept shows that when faced with the upsetting events individuals tend to (a) reconsider their existing events, (b) divest from their old ways of knowing, and (c) invest in relatively new ways of knowing. Our study calls a particular attention to the role of career divestments, or discontinuing certain ways of investing in order free resources for a different investment expected to be more fruitful in terms or returns. Attention to divestment may be warranted due to the increased unpredictability of working lives of today’s career actors. This study contributes to responding to a call for a better understanding of the role of upsetting events on people’s careers and the society at large. We also bring further our understanding of human adjustment to the sometimes upsetting changes in their surroundings through working life, thus enhancing our understanding of the role of careers in socio-economic systems. Last but not least, the study also contributes to a better understanding of careers in modern Russia. With the increasing role of Russia on the international political and economic arena, understanding people through looking at their working lives is a good start for multiple potential research endeavors in the fields of career research and beyond.
Keywords:	Careers, intelligent career investments, career divestment, upsetting events, Russia
Date:	2008–06–03
URL:	http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esm:wpaper:esmt-08-001&r=cis

The Changing Intra-Household Resource Allocation in Russia

By:	Guy Lacroix; Natalia Radtchenko
Abstract:	During the transition toward a market economy, Russian workers have had to face important structural changes in the labour market as well as dramatic changes in their real earnings. In the process, the wage gap between men and women has varied wildly over that period. In recent years, young women have embraced professional careers, are more mobile on the labour market, and tend to delay the birth of their first child. All these trends are likely to influence intra-household relations and consequently the family decision process. To investigate this matter, we estimate a household collective labour supply model. We generalize the specification so as to allow the sharing rule to change in a discrete manner between the pre and post 1998 financial crisis periods. The parameters of the sharing-rule indicate that the households have shifted to a new equilibrium in the post-1998 period. Indeed, husbands have become more egotistic and wives more altruistic: an increase in their relative wage translates into a smaller/larger transfer to their spouse.
Keywords:	Collective model, sharing rule, Russian economic crisis
JEL:	D1 J22 C5
Date:	2008
URL:	http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:lacicr:0811&r=cis

This nep-cis issue is ©2008 by Anna Y. Borodina. It is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. It may be freely redistributed in whole or in part for any purpose. If distributed in part, please include this notice.

General information on the NEP project can be found at http://nep.repec.org. For comments please write to the director of NEP, Marco Novarese at <director@nep.repec.org>. Put “NEP” in the subject, otherwise your mail may be rejected.

NEP’s infrastructure is sponsored by the School of Economics and Finance of Massey University in New Zealand.