unskilled self-employed, or zero-income family workers (Perry, et al., 2007). The specific definitions used in this paper and corresponding data sources are detailed next.

# **Sources of data for measuring informal employment in Russia**

Several different data sources are available for the purpose of studying the impact of informal employment on well-being in Russia. There are four sources of microdata that include information on informal employment: the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS), the Russian Labor Force Survey (LFS), the Life in Transition Survey (LiTS) and the European Social Survey (ESS). For the estimation of levels and trends of informal employment, we utilize all four surveys to see how the trends compare across data sources and by definition. We then focus on the RLMS which has rich and detailed information on employment, and complement the analysis with other surveys when appropriate. For all data sources, we maintain a definition of informal employment that is consistent with the legalistic view described above (mainly whether the worker has a contract). This definition is in line with the majority of Russian literature and, as mentioned before, deemed more appropriate for transition economies.<sup>6</sup> Below follows a description of each data source used and details on how informal employment is derived from each survey. In all surveys, we focus on the main job only, excluding secondary jobs and other irregular activities.

The Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) is a series of nationally representative surveys designed to monitor the effects of Russian reforms on the health and economic welfare of Russians. The project is run jointly by the National Research University Higher School of Economics and ZAO Demoscope, together with the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The RLMS is a panel survey with annual data available starting in 1994 and is representative at the national level. Data are available through 2016 which maintained a sample size of 7,000 households. The survey includes very detailed information on health status, household expenditure and service utilization, as well as community-level data.<sup>7</sup> The Russian Labor Force Survey (LFS) is a sample survey of the population on the labor market. The survey is conducted by Rosstat on a quarterly frequency and is representative at the regional level. A sample of approximately 65,000 people between the ages of 15 and 72 years is surveyed. Microdata are publicly available for the period covering 2010-2015.

The Life in Transition Survey (LiTS) was originally developed to capture how transition affected the lives of people and how it shapes their views on democracy and the role of the state. It was conducted jointly by the EBRD and the World Bank in 2006, 2010 and 2016. The surveys are

> 6 (Lehmann H. &., 2007) shows for the case of Ukraine that using a productivity-based definition can introduce large measurement errors in transition economies.

> 7 The RLMS survey data and documentation are publicly available at: <u>https://www.hse.ru/en/rlms/downloads</u>

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