Income advantages of communist party members before and during the transformation process

In this study contradictory hypotheses are tested about the changing income advantages of Communist Party (CP) members derived from the Elite Circulation Thesis and the Elite Reproduction Thesis, using cross-sectional datasets from before and during the transformation process. CP members are matched with non-CP members on several important income determinants such as human capital, occupational class, market capital, age, gender, and marital status. Independent-samples t-tests, on differences in mean personal (ln)income reveal that CP members earn more than non-CP members do before and during the transformation process. An ANOVA shows that the income advantages of CP members are most persistent in the Czech Republic and Russia while they get smaller in Slovakia and Hungary. Comparing the four countries suggests that the remaining income advantages of CP members may partly be explained by transformation specific differences between countries.

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