## Changes in the Structure of Earnings During the Polish Transition

_IMF Working Papers, August 1, 2002_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Changes in the Structure of Earnings During the Polish Transition](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2016/12/30/changes-in-the-structure-of-earnings-during-the-polish-transition-15990)

## Other formats

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Eswar S Prasad, Michael P. Keane
- Published: August 1, 2002
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451855715.001

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### Key findings on earnings inequality
- Inequality in labor earnings increased substantially during the economic transition in Poland.
- Earnings inequality increased markedly in both the private and public sectors, indicating that even state-owned enterprises in Poland moved toward competitive wage setting during the transition.
- Education premia increased sharply.
- Experience premia declined.
- Increases in within-group inequality account for about 60 percent of the increase in overall wage inequality.
- Increases in within-group inequality were very different across skill groups, with much larger increases for highly educated workers—contrasting with the experience of countries like the United States.

### Analytical focus and methodology (as described)
- The paper documents changes in the structure of earnings during transition, emphasizing decomposition of overall wage inequality into between-group and within-group components.
- Key concepts preserved from the source include: between- and within-group inequality, earnings differential, earnings distribution, earnings premium, earnings regression, education and experience premia, gender earnings gap, labor reallocation, sector earnings dispersion, and transition dynamics.

### Implications emphasized in the paper
- Wage-setting in state-owned enterprises shifted toward competitive patterns during the transition, contributing to rising inequality in the public sector.
- Rising education premia suggest increased returns to schooling in the transition economy.
- Declining experience premia indicate changing valuation of labor market seniority or accumulated experience during transition.
- The disproportionate rise in within-group inequality for highly educated workers points to heterogeneity in how the transition affected skill groups and suggests targeted considerations for policy addressing inequality among the highly educated.

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## Content in this bundle

- **Changes in the Structure of Earnings During the Polish Transition - WP/02/135**
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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2016/12/30/changes-in-the-structure-of-earnings-during-the-polish-transition-15990_