From transition crisis to the global crisis: labor in the Central and Eastern EU new member states.

This paper analyzes the developments in wages, employment, and income distribution in the Central and Eastern European New Member States twenty years after transition to market economies in three episodes: i. the transition crisis, ii. the post-transition growth, iii. the crisis episode of 2008-09. The balance sheet of the 20 years of transition in terms of employment and wages is marked by the negative effects of the transition crisis at the beginning and the global crisis in the last two years. Total employment has at best stagnated or slightly decreased along with significant job losses in industry. Modest wage increases have fallen way behind phenomenal productivity increases. Furthermore the global crisis has led to employment losses in all countries, and real wages have already started to decrease in several countries.

Pre-refereed version as permitted by publisher.

Originally published as discussion paper, no 135 (March 2010) by Middlesex University Business School, Department of Economics and Statistics.