Wages and employment by skill level in Southern and Eastern Europe during the crisis (original) (raw)
Related papers
2002
Hungary has been a front-runner in the transition to capitalism. It has also experienced exceptionally radical changes in employment and relative wages. One main feature of these changes is an enormous increase in the returns to skill. This paper argues that it is instructive to divide the process into two periods, divided by around the year 1995. The first period experienced major destruction of low-skilled jobs and large inter-sectoral reallocation, partly toward skill-intensive industries. Employment started to rebound in the second period, which has also seen a pervasive skill upgrade in all sectors. The skill premium in earnings started to grow even faster in the second stage because increasing demand for skill met a more and more inelastic supply in the short run. Long-run supply effects have been, however, strong as college enrollment rates soared. Introduction of new (foreign) capital seems to be a major factor behind increasing demand for skill. Foreign direct investment into Hungary was by far the largest among the transition countries until the late 1990's, but other Central-Eastern European countries started to catch up since. This suggests that the Hungarian experience might be helpful to predict labor market trends in other transition economies, especially those that attract significant foreign capital.
Regional Statistics, 2024
The Czech and Hungarian labour markets have undergone significant changes: European Union (EU) accession and various employment and job creation programmes that have all left their mark on employment. The authors analysed the two major economic crises-the 2008 global economic crisis and Covid-19 pandemic-and their impact on the labour markets of the examined countries from a regional perspective. The phases of change in the examined unemployment rates and the reasons for this change have shown that the crises have affected the employment situation in the regions of the countries in different ways, degrees and lengths of time.
2012
The article analyses changes in the regional variability of unemployment rates resulting from the global crisis, at the NUTS 3 and LAU 1 levels in the new member states of the European Union in Central and Eastern Europe. Although the coefficient of variation, the Gini coefficient and the Theil index each show a clear tendency towards convergence, in all of the states and at both of the scale levels observed, the range of variation has increased throughout the region, with the exception of the LAU 1 level in Hungary. The analysis therefore shows the ambiguous nature of the relationship between an economic crisis and the intensity of micro-regional differences or, rather, their dependence, owing to the nature and severity of the crisis as well as the statistical measures of variability. We found a number of mutual and contradictory tendencies concerning regional development during the global economic crisis in the observed countries. Based upon these findings, several groups of countries with similar changes in their regional pattern during the crisis have been identified.
Analysis of European Labour Market in the Crisis Context
Prague Economic Papers, 2013
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of labour market dynamics in EU-27 in the recent period and to assess their impact on the process of economic development. Thedegree of originality is given by our choice to focus on the comparative analysis of two periods of time: 2000-2007, when the European Union as a whole, but especially Central and Eastern European countries as well as Mediterranean ones experienced significant improvements in labour market performances and overall competitiveness and 2008-2010, a recession periodcharacterized by a massive loss of jobs and an equally large increase in unemployment, withanticipated consequences on economic growth. The main interest is to look for the key factors that determine the lasting performances of the leading European economies and possible solutions for ensuring the sustainable growth of the others.
ECONOMICS & SOCIOLOGY, 2015
Our analysis confirms a lower degree of fluidity on Polish/Czech labour markets compared to Austria. In particular, we find evidence on higher employment rigidity and on lower employability of unemployed in Poland and Czech Republic. The major employment policy challenge faced by Poland and the Czech Republic is actually embodied in much lower job finding prospects of both prime-age and young unemployed in comparison with Austria. In addition, Austrian school-leavers, university graduates or those reentering the labour market after parental leave are much more likely to find a job than young labour market entrants in the two remaining countries. Finally, Austrian labour market appears to be most flexible also when comparing the contributions of particular gross flows to unemployment rate dynamics.
High skills pay off: the changing wage structure during economic transition in Poland
The Economics of Transition, 1996
Economic transition turns the inherited wage structure upside down. Changes are rapid and dramatic. The Polish example shows that even in the first year of market-oriented reforms, there was a marked increase in earnings inequality, a dramatic rise in the wage premium for white-collar skills, and a significant jump in the returns to education. In contrast, skills acquired under the old system lost their value. It is younger workers who are rewarded with higher wages. The changes are spearheaded by the private sector, where inequalities and the educational premium are higher than in the public sector. Privatization, thus, has its social aspects in that it strengthens the incentive for human capital investment. This paper documents these changes and sets out possible explanations.
Recent Labour Market Trends in the Visegrad Group Countries
Comparative Economic Research. Central and Eastern Europe, 2011
This study analyses labour market trends that appeared in Poland and other Visegrad Group countries during the global economic crisis, i.e. between 2007 and 2009. Special attention is paid to the changes in employment and unemployment rates that occurred in that period. For the sake of comparison, the labour market indicators are contrasted with average rates for the European Union and the euro area. The presented analysis aims to identify the degree to which unemployment rates and indicators of employment changed in the selected countries in response to the global crisis and to explain why the labour markets in the sample countries reacted differently. It also addresses the changing production volumes and labour market flexibility, particularly towards wages, employment and working time. The above analyses show that the labour markets of the Visegrad Group countries changed significantly during the global economic crisis, i.e. between 2007 and 2009; unemployment rates rose, while v...