Russian language skills and employment in the Former Soviet Union
During the Soviet era, proficiency in the Russian language was often a ticket to attractive employment opportunities in the member republics. Does it still contribute to securing employment in the former Soviet republics after two decades of transition? Using data from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgi...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Blackwell Publishing
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/39033 |
| _version_ | 1848755480250286080 |
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| author | Duncan, Alan Mavisakalyan, Astghik |
| author_facet | Duncan, Alan Mavisakalyan, Astghik |
| author_sort | Duncan, Alan |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | During the Soviet era, proficiency in the Russian language was often a ticket to attractive employment opportunities in the member republics. Does it still contribute to securing employment in the former Soviet republics after two decades of transition? Using data from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in the years 2008-2010, this paper demonstrates that Russian language skills remain economically valuable. The baseline estimates suggest that Russian language skills increase probability of employment by about 6 (males) and 9 (females) percentage points. Our results bear important implications for the ongoing debates on language policies in the post-Soviet countries. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:56:58Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-39033 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:56:58Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Blackwell Publishing |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-390332017-09-13T15:37:43Z Russian language skills and employment in the Former Soviet Union Duncan, Alan Mavisakalyan, Astghik During the Soviet era, proficiency in the Russian language was often a ticket to attractive employment opportunities in the member republics. Does it still contribute to securing employment in the former Soviet republics after two decades of transition? Using data from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in the years 2008-2010, this paper demonstrates that Russian language skills remain economically valuable. The baseline estimates suggest that Russian language skills increase probability of employment by about 6 (males) and 9 (females) percentage points. Our results bear important implications for the ongoing debates on language policies in the post-Soviet countries. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/39033 10.1111/ecot.12075 Blackwell Publishing fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Duncan, Alan Mavisakalyan, Astghik Russian language skills and employment in the Former Soviet Union |
| title | Russian language skills and employment in the Former Soviet Union |
| title_full | Russian language skills and employment in the Former Soviet Union |
| title_fullStr | Russian language skills and employment in the Former Soviet Union |
| title_full_unstemmed | Russian language skills and employment in the Former Soviet Union |
| title_short | Russian language skills and employment in the Former Soviet Union |
| title_sort | russian language skills and employment in the former soviet union |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/39033 |