The Soviet Household under the Old Regime: Economic Conditions and Behaviour in the 1970s - Hardcover

Ofer, Gur; Vinokur, Aaron

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521383986 ISBN 13: 9780521383981

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1992

Synopsis

This book provides the most detailed analysis to date of the economics of the Soviet urban household sector during the 1970s. It contains nine studies covering the size distribution of incomes and wealth, the incidence and causes of poverty, the labor supply of women, division of labor among household members and saving behavior. All these studies are based on a unique source of information: the returns of retrospective income surveys of Jewish immigrants to Israel and the United States and in each study Gur Ofer and Aaron Vinokur employ a cross-sectional econometric analysis of the data on individual households.

About this title

Book Description:

Originally published in 1992, this book provides a detailed analysis of the economics of the Soviet urban household sector during the 1970s. It will be an invaluable reference source for specialists of Soviet studies, comparative economics, income distribution and women's studies as well as for government officials and journalists.

Review:

"Everyone interested in the comparative behavior of households as they react to their economic environment will find these studies highly informative." Journal of Economic Literature

"This volume illustrates the best of the old Sovietology as practiced by 'pros.' Its usefulness will grow over time--mainly for historians, as the title suggests. The title echoes many books that appeared after 1917 describing an earlier 'old regime.'" Slavic Review

"...will be of interest to microeconomists generally, as a study of behavior in a different economic environment, to labor economists and economic demographers, to those interested in the role of women in the economy, and of course to Soviet and post-Soviet specialists." Joseph M. Nowakowski, Southern Economic Journal

'Ofer and Vinokur's studies show the power of carefully drawn and analyzed samples. Working with a far-from-ideal sample -- Soviet emigrants to Israel -- they were able to reweight the sample with the result that their sample came remarkably close to replicating the basic published characteristics of the Soviet population such as average wages....Ofer and Vinokur show that major progress in social-science research is not made cheaply or overnight. These results show what a decade or more of careful research can yield. Unfortunately, there are too few such research projects that combine such patience, perseverance, and theoretical and methodological competence." Paul Gregory, Journal of Economic History

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0521383986
• ISBN 13: 9780521383981
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416