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Evolution of private returns to tertiary education during transition: evidence from Slovenia

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  • Tjaša Bartolj
  • Aleš AhCan
  • Aljoša Feldin
  • Sašo Polanec

Abstract

This article analyses the evolution of private returns to tertiary education during the period of transition from a socialist to a market economy using the personal income tax data of all Slovenian workers employed between 1994 and 2008. We document a rich interplay between supply and demand in the labour markets of high school and university graduates. We show that, in spite of significant increases in the labour supply, the demand for university graduates outweighed this and increased the rates of return in the early period of transition (1994--2001), while in the later period (2001--08) the opposite was the case. We also provide evidence of considerable heterogeneity in rates of return between genders, levels and fields of study, with particularly large (low) returns to the fields that were suppressed (favoured) during socialism. These initial differences in returns have, however, gradually declined.

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  • Tjaša Bartolj & Aleš AhCan & Aljoša Feldin & Sašo Polanec, 2013. "Evolution of private returns to tertiary education during transition: evidence from Slovenia," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 407-424, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:pocoec:v:25:y:2013:i:3:p:407-424
    DOI: 10.1080/14631377.2013.813147
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    3. Santiago Bonilla & Sašo Polanec, 2021. "Organizational Hierarchies in the Slovenian Manufacturing Sector," Eastern European Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(6), pages 571-596, November.
    4. Jelena Žarković Rakić & Gorana Krstić & Nermin Oruč & Will Bartlett, 2019. "Income Inequality In Transition Economies: A Comparative Analysis Of Croatia, Serbia And Slovenia," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 64(223), pages 39-60, October –.
    5. Leszek Wincenciak, 2019. "Evolution of private returns to schooling over the business cycle in a transition economy," Working Papers 2019-19, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    6. Darjan Petek & Timotej Jagric, 2017. "Wage Inequalities: A Result of Different Levels and Fields of Tertiary Education?," Management, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, vol. 12(1), pages 59-73.
    7. Lehouelleur, Sophie & Beblav�, Miroslav & Maselli,Ilaria, 2015. "How returns from tertiary education differ by field of study: Implications for policy-makers and students," CEPS Papers 10835, Centre for European Policy Studies.

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    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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