IZA/Volkswagen Foundation Topic Week: The Political Economy of Labor Market Reform in Transition and Emerging Economies

Wednesday, October 07:

09:45	-	10:00		Welcome by the Organizers
10:00	-	11:15		Álmos Telegdy (Central European University), Adam Szentpeteri (Central European University)
				"Political Selection of Firms into Privatization Programs. Evidence from Romanian Comprehensive Data"
				Discussant: Alexander Muravyev (IZA)
11:15	-	12:30		Lecture:
				Werner Eichhorst (IZA)
				"What Have We Learned? Assessing Labor Market Institutions and Indicators"
12:30	-	14:00		Lunch
14:00	-	15:15		Ansgar H. Belke (University of Duisburg-Essen and IZA), Bernhard Herz (University of Bayreuth), Lukas Vogel (European Commission)
				"Beyond Trade – Is Reform Effort Affected by the Exchange Rate Regime? A Panel Analysis for the World versus OECD Countries"
				Discussant: Riccardo Rovelli (University of Bologna and IZA)
15:15	-	16:30		Natalia Isachenkova (Kingston University London), Simon Commander (EBRD and IZA), Yulia Rodionova (University College London)
				"A Model of the Informal Economy with An Application to Ukraine"
				Discussant: Björn Anders Gustafsson (Göteborg University and IZA)
16:30	-	16:45		Coffee/Tea
20:00				Dinner at Restaurant 'Schänzchen'

Thursday, October 08:

09:00	-	10:15		Hartmut Lehmann (University of Bologna and IZA), Alexander Muravyev (IZA)
				"How Important are Labor Market Institutions for Labor Market Performance in Transition Countries"
				Discussant: Nauro F. Campos (Brunel University and IZA)
10:15	-	11:30		Irina Denisova (CEFIR, New Economic School, Moscow), Markus Eller (Oesterreichische Nationalbank), Timothy Frye (Columbia University), Ekaterina Zhuravskaya (New Economic School Moscow)
				"Who Wants To Revise Privatization? The Complementarity of Market Skills and Institutions"
				Discussant: Anzelika Zaiceva (IZA and University of Bologna)
11:30	-	11:45		Coffee/Tea
11:45	-	13:00		Riccardo Rovelli (University of Bologna and IZA), Roberto Golinelli (University of Bologna)
				"On Support for Reforms in Post-Communist Countries. Why is Democratization not a Dinner Party"
				Discussant: Irina Denisova (CEFIR, New Economic School, Moscow)
13:00	-	14:00		Lunch
14:00	-	15:15		Marek Góra (Warsaw School of Economics and IZA)
				"The Political Economy of Labour and Social Reforms - Poland"
				Discussant: Hartmut Lehmann (University of Bologna and IZA)
15:15	-	16:30		Prudence Magejo (University College Dublin), Olivier Bargain (University College Dublin and IZA)
				"The Informal Sector Wage Gap: New Evidence Using Quantile Estimations on Panel Data"
				Discussant: Melanie Khamis (IZA)
16:30	-	16:45		Coffee/Tea
16:45	-	18:00		Raul Eamets (University of Tartu and IZA)
				"Restricted Macroeconomic Policy and Flexible Labour Market: The Case of Estonia"
				Discussant: Ulf Rinne (IZA)
20:00				Dinner at Restaurant 'Roses'

Friday, October 09:

09:30	-	11:00		Keynote Lecture:
				Jan Svejnar (University of Michigan and IZA)
				"Privatization, Productivity and Employment"
11:00	-	11:15		Coffee/Tea
11:15	-	12:30		Jeffrey B. Nugent (University of Southern California), Nauro Campos (Brunel University and IZA)
				"A New Dataset of Labor Market Rigidity and Reform Indexes for up to 145 Countries Since 1960 (LAMRIG)"
				Discussant: Zahra Siddique (IZA)
12:30	-	14:00		Lunch
14:00	-	15:15		Katherine Terrell (University of Michigan and IZA), Ina Ganguli (Harvard University)
				"Closing Gender Wage Gaps in Ukraine: Composition, Returns and Minimum Wage"
				Discussant: Olivier B. Bargain (University College Dublin and IZA)
16:30	-	18:00		Social Event: Visit to the House of Beethoven
20:00				Dinner at 'Oliveto' with Distinguished Dinner Speech by Klaus F. Zimmermann (IZA, DIW Berlin and Bonn University) "The Political Constraints of Implementing Labor Market Reforms"

Saturday, October 10:

10:00	-	11:15		Melanie Khamis (IZA), Thomas Dohmen (ROA, Maastricht University and IZA), Hartmut Lehmann (University of Bologna and IZA)
				"Risk Attitudes, Time Preferences and the Incidence of Informality: Evidence from a Transition Country"
				Discussant: Alpaslan Akay (IZA)
11:15	-	12:30		Elena Besedina (Kyiv School of Economics), Tom Coupe (Kyiv School of Economics and IZA), Olena Nizalova (Kyiv School of Economics)
				"Political Economy of Labor Reform in Ukraine: Does Accountability Matter?"
				Discussant: Hartmut Lehmann (University of Bologna and IZA)
12:30	-	12:40		Concluding Remarks by the Organizers