The cost of job loss in a transition economy. Evidence from Ukraine

Abstract

The first part of the paper presents the costsfor displaced workers as they are depicted in thewestern labor economics literature and the possibleimplication of the transition on them. The second partof the paper follows Lehman ET all (2005) in order toidentify the incidence and costs of displacement inUkraine. Using ULMS (2003), I have found thataround one third of the displaced find re-employmentimmediately while the majority continues into longterm non-employment. The main cost for displacedworkers in Ukraine is the income loss due to long nonemploymentspells experienced by the average workerafter layoff.

Keywords

• job loss
• unemployment
• transition economy