Labor Mobility and Stability: How High is the Return on Specific Human Capital in Russia?

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the role of specific human capital in modern Russian economy. Using data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey we analyze job tenure in Russia in the 1990s and the 2000s, estimate the return to specific human capital and labor mobility in terms of wage growth. Our findings show that high levels of labor mobility nowadays are connected with low value of specific human capital both for employee and employer. Moreover, we have found that Russian workers have paid some «penalty» for specifity of their human capital. Current decline of demand on specific human capital can be explained as a result of economy globali­zation, unification of production and business processes, and high heterogeneity of the firms and enterprises in Russian economy.