Returns to Job Mobility: Empirical Study Using RLMS Data

<p style="text-align: justify;">The paper investigates returns to job mobility in Russia in 2000-2013. According to the existing research results Russian labor market is associated with low, insignificant, or even negative returns to tenure. This evidence shows that general human capital is valued more than job-related specific skills and knowledge. Therefore, as the mobility costs decrease in this case job mobility may become an optimal strategy to increase the wage making the study of this issue important for understanding the labor market structure. The estimates calculated using RLMS data and different econometric methods (OLS, FE, switching regression models) demonstrate that job mobility has different impact on yearly growth rates and the level of hourly real wage. Job change increases yearly wage growth rate by 3%, and the effect varies across different occupational groups. However, no evidence of significant influence of job mobility on the wage rate level could be found. These results show that job change may be also accompanied with non-material benefits and adjustment of working hours, while the most efficient strategy of job mobility is choosing &ldquo;profitable&rdquo; occupational group and firm ownership type after the job change.</p>