Transition from Plan to Market, Height and Well-Being

60 Pages Posted: 14 Oct 2019 Last revised: 16 Apr 2023

See all articles by Alícia Adserà

Alícia Adserà

Princeton University - Princeton School of Public and International Affairs; Princeton University - Office of Population Research (OPR); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Francesca Dalla Pozza

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Sergei Guriev

Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Lukas Kleine-Rueschkamp

Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)

Elena Nikolova

Central European Labour Studies Institute (CELSI); University College London - School of Slavonic and East European Studies; IOS Regensburg

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Abstract

Using newly available data, we re-evaluate the impact of transition from plan to market in former communist countries on objective and subjective well-being. We find clear evidence of the high social cost of early transition reforms: cohorts born around the start of transition are shorter than their older or younger peers. The difference in height suggests that the first years of reform in former communist countries were accompanied by major deprivation. We provide suggestive evidence on the importance of three mechanisms which partially explain these results: the decline of GDP per capita, the deterioration of healthcare systems, and food scarcity. On the bright side, we find that cohorts that experienced transition in their infancy are now better educated and more satisfied with their lives than their counterparts. Taken together, our results imply that the transition process has been a traumatic experience, but that its negative impact has largely been overcome.

Keywords: well-being, transition from plan to market, height, structural reforms, Russia

JEL Classification: P36, I14, I31, O12

Suggested Citation

Adsera, Alicia and Dalla Pozza, Francesca and Guriev, Sergei and Kleine-Rueschkamp, Lukas and Nikolova, Elena and Nikolova, Elena, Transition from Plan to Market, Height and Well-Being. IZA Discussion Paper No. 12658, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3468606 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3468606

Alicia Adsera (Contact Author)

Princeton University - Princeton School of Public and International Affairs ( email )

Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544

Princeton University - Office of Population Research (OPR) ( email )

200 Wallace Hall
NJ 08544
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Francesca Dalla Pozza

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) ( email )

One Exchange Square
London, EC2A 2EH
United Kingdom

Sergei Guriev

Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) ( email )

27 rue Saint-Guillaume
Paris Cedex 07, 75337
France

HOME PAGE: http://econ.sciences-po.fr/staff/sergei-guriev

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Lukas Kleine-Rueschkamp

Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) ( email )

2 rue Andre Pascal
Paris Cedex 16, 75775
France

Elena Nikolova

Central European Labour Studies Institute (CELSI) ( email )

Zvolenská 29
Bratislava, 82109
Slovakia

University College London - School of Slavonic and East European Studies ( email )

Malet Street
London WC1E 7HU
United Kingdom

IOS Regensburg ( email )

Landshuter Str. 4
Regensburg, 93047
Germany

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