TY  - JOUR
AU  - Gorodnichenko,Yuriy
AU  - Peter,Klara Sabirianova
AU  - Stolyarov,Dmitriy
TI  - Inequality and Volatility Moderation in Russia: Evidence from Micro-Level Panel Data on Consumption and Income
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 15080
PY  - 2009
Y2  - June 2009
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15080
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15080.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Yuriy Gorodnichenko
Department of Economics
508-1 Evans Hall #3880
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-3880
Tel: 510/643-0720
Fax: 510/642-6615
E-Mail: ygorodni@econ.berkeley.edu

Klara Sabirianova Peter
Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
Georgia State University
P.O. Box 3992, Atlanta, GA 30302-3992
E-Mail: kpeter@gsu.edu

Dmitriy Stolyarov
University of Michigan
Department of Economics
611 Tappan Ave, Room 238
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1220
Tel: 734-647-5609
Fax: 734-764-2769
E-Mail: stolyar@umich.edu
AB  - We construct key household and individual economic variables using a panel micro data set from the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) for 1994-2005. We analyze cross-sectional income and consumption inequality and find that inequality decreased during the 2000-2005 economic recovery. The decrease appears to be driven by falling volatility of transitory income shocks. The response of consumption to permanent and transitory income shocks becomes weaker later in the sample, consistent with greater self-insurance against permanent shocks and greater smoothing of transitory shocks.  Comparisons of RLMS data with official macroeconomic statistics reveal that national accounts may underestimate the extent of unofficial economic activity, and that the official consumer price index may overstate inflation and be prone to quality bias.
ER  -