Revaluation of the labor theories and the Central-Eastern-European labor market trends

The author assumes that globalization and its regional and local impacts have an important role in nowadays' economics. Paradoxically, challenges arising from the unification of the world have made the necessity for regional and local answers stronger. The transformation of the labor market calls for the revaluation of the notion of labor; it puts the issue of employment in another perspective. The solution for globally existing lack of employment is more and more frequently sought focusing on sustainability and social inclusion at regional and local levels. This study consists of three main themes: (1) An overview is given about the main findings of the economic theories associated with employment and labor / paid work; reinterpretation of the concept of labor is also provided, divided into pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial periods, which the author aligns with the periods of the economic thought. The author interprets globalization as a factor influencing the transition between industrial and post-industrial periods; and she elaborately introduces its economic-social and labor market impacts. Among the potential alternatives of employment of the future, this thesis investigates the atypical forms of employment, public employment and social (solidarity) economy. (2) Central-Eastern European countries and regions are analyzed, as the territorial unit of the research, from labor market and employment aspects. Afterwards, the author evaluates the employment situation in this region. (3) Afterwards, she contributes suggestions to the criteria of creating a more efficient regional employment policy. The aim of this research was analysed the regional labor market situation by the Central-Eastern European countries and regions, in particular by the North Hungarian region and was gave some proposals for a possible, efficient regional employment policy.