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Astghik Mavisakalyan

Curtin University, Australia

IZA World of Labor is a great resource for policymakers and practitioners. I am very excited to be part of this initiative

IZA World of Labor role

Author

Current position

Senior Research Fellow, Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, Curtin University, Australia

Research interest

Economics of education, labor economics, political economy

Website

https://staffportal.curtin.edu.au/staff/profile/view/Astghik.Mavisakalyan

Past positions

Postdoctoral Fellow, Research School of Economics, Australian National University

Qualifications

PhD Economics, University of Sydney, Australia

Selected publications

  • "Linguistic structures and economic outcomes." The Journal of Economic Surveys (2017) (with C. Weber).

  • "Do employers reward physical attractiveness in transition countries?" Economics & Human Biology 28 (forthcoming): 38–52.

  • "The labor market return to academic fraud." European Economic Review 82:C (2016): 212–230 (with J. Meinecke).

  • "Constitutions and the political agency of women: A cross-country study." Feminist Economics 22:1 (2016): 183–210 (with S. Austen).

  • "Russian language skills and employment in the Former Soviet Union." Economics of Transition 23:3 (2015): 625–656 (with A. Duncan).

article(s)

  • Returns to language skills in transition economies

    Speaking English has its benefits in transition countries but can it supersede Russian?

    Astghik Mavisakalyan, December 2017
    In many transition countries, the collapse of communism ushered in language reforms to adapt to the newfound independence from the Soviet Union and openness to the rest of the world. Such reforms may have implications for individuals’ economic opportunities, since foreign language proficiency may enhance or signal productivity in the labor market. Recent empirical evidence documents positive labor market returns to English language skills in transition countries. However, Russian language proficiency also remains economically valuable, and nationalist language policies may lead to future loss of economic opportunities.
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