Education and Labour Force in Bulgaria: 1944 2004

1
Education and Labour Force in Bulgaria 1944 -
2004

• Ralitsa Simeonova-Ganeva
• Faculty of Economics and Business Administration,
• Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski
• Conference on Medium-Term Economic Assessment
  (CMTEA)
• Sofia, Bulgaria, September 29-30, 2005

2
Outline

• Objectives
• Approach
• Data sources
• Education and labour force
• Enrollment rates
• Labour force
• Wages
• Some political and economic factors
• Conclusions

3
Objectives

• Human capital, which represents the stock of
  knowledge and skills within an economy, is a
  milestone for development of economy of knowledge
• An attempt is made at answering the following
  questions
• What was the status of the human capital in
  Bulgaria in the communist period?
• What was the real status of the human capital
  with which the country has entered the
  transition?
• What is the human capital in Bulgaria today?

4
Approach

• Measures of human capital
• Educational characteristics of the labour force
• Quantitative measures
• Time periods
• 1944 1989 planned economy
• 1989 2004 transition to market economy

5
Data sources communism

• Very little public information presenting
  accurately the real state of the education of the
  population and the labour force is available
• The reason - a prohibition for the public
  announcement of (some of) these data due to their
  classification as state or official secret

6
Data sources communism (contd)

• Central Statistical Office (CSO)
• Statistical yearbooks, reference books, etc.
• Main findings from each census
• Bulgarian Academy of Science (BAS) and other
  research institutions
• National empirical sociological surveys of the
  Institute of Sociology
• Other research work
• Central State Archives
• Legislative documents
• Government analyses

7
Data sources transition

• Employment Agency
• Labour market data registered unemployed
• National Statistical Institute (NSI)
• The Labour Force Survey within the households
  surveys
• The enterprise survey on the number of employed
  persons, wages and other labour costs
• The quarterly enterprise survey on the number of
  employees, time worked and labour costs
• The four-yearly survey on the structure of
  earnings
• Net enrollment rates of the population in the
  educational system

8
Education and labour forceEducational structure
of the population according to the censuses
Source CSO, NSI
9
Education and labour force Enrollment
ratesEnrollment rates of the population in the
age group 10- 19 in the specialized secondary
education Source own calculations based on CSO
and NSI statistical yearbooks
10
Education and labour force Enrollment rates
(contd) Enrollment rates of the population in
university and specialized secondary and
post-secondary education Source own
calculations based on CSO and NSI statistical
yearbooks
11
Education and labour force Enrollment rates
(contd) Net enrollment rates of the population
in the educational system Source NSI
12
Education and labour force labour
forceSpecialists with university, college and
specialized secondary education, and university
graduates as percentage of total employment
Source own calculations based on CSO and NSI
statistical yearbooks
13
Education and labour force labour force (contd)
Educational structure of the population at the
age of 16 and more, Source Institute of
Sociology (BAS)
14
Education and labour force labour force (contd)
Educational structure of employed Source own
calculations based on NSI data
15
Education and labour force labour force (contd)
Educational structure of unemployed Source own
calculations based on NSI data
16
Education and labour force labour force (contd)
Educational structure of the population in the
age group 25 - 64, Source NSI
17
Education and labour force wagesDistribution of
income within the respective educational groups,
1968, Source Institute of Sociology (BAS)
18
Education and labour force wages
(contd)Distribution of income (in leva) within
the respective educational groups, 1986,
Source Institute of Sociology (BAS)
19
Education and labour force wages
(contd)Distribution of income (in leva) by
level of education within the respective income
groups, 1986, Source Institute of Sociology
(BAS)
20
Education and labour force wages
(contd)Average gross monthly salary (in leva)
by level of education, 2002 Source NSI
21
Some political and economic factorsliquidation
of illiteracy

• 1951, 1952 legislative acts for quick
  liquidation of illiteracy
• 1950 about 1 000 000 (14 ) of the population is
  illiterate
• 1968 9.2 illiterate
• 1986 2.7 illiterate

22
Some political and economic factorsMobilization
of the labour force

• 1960 State Planning Committee reported
• the shortage of workers and the lack of
  qualified labour
• as a main reason
• for the failure to fulfill the economic plan in
  key industries

23
Some political and economic factorsMobilization
of the labour force (contd)

• Early 60s numerous legislative acts for
  mobilization and qualification of the labour
  force introducing
• Central recruitment and allocation of the labour
  force
• Central allocation of the graduates from
  specialized and professional schools and
  institutions
• An urgent training programs for qualified labour
  in the needed specialties
• Intensive recruitment of women in enterprises and
  organizations where the female labour could be
  utilized
• Priority to female applicants for the specialized
  and professional secondary schools in specialties
  with soft labour conditions
• Training and recruitment of the young people that
  did not continue their primary and secondary
  school education

24
Some political and economic factorsPursuit of
education and wages

• Communism
• Extensive policy measures for stimulating school,
  college and university attending
• Free education
• Guaranteed jobs after graduation
• Permanent need for highly qualified labour
• In the end of the communism about 60 of the
  population is with primary or lower education

25
Some political and economic factorsPursuit of
education and wages (contd)

• Transition
• Phasing out of the programs in support of the
  students and the educational institutions
• Constantly growing interest in secondary and
  higher education

26
Some political and economic factorsPursuit of
education and wages (contd)

• Some explanations
• Generations
• Wages The higher the educational level of the
  individuals, the better they are paid for their
  work?
• Centrally-planned economy - the structure of the
  wage rates does not create incentives for rising
  of the educational level
• Transition to market economy - increasing
  significance of education, skills and knowledge
  concerning the level of compensation

27
Conclusions

• Communist governments
• Provided favorable conditions for the enhancement
  of the educational structure of the population
• Succeeded to alter significantly the status quo
  inherited after the World War II
• Failed to stimulate predominant part of the
  population to complete secondary or higher
  education

28
Conclusions (contd)

• Entering the transition
• About 7 of the population has university
  education
• About 60 of the population is with primary or
  lower education
• Between 25 30 of the population has not
  completed primary education

29
Conclusions (contd)

• Presently
• Almost 9 of the population has university
  education
• Approximately 20 of the population has not
  completed primary education
• 21 of the population in the age group 25-64 has
  college or university education
• 29 of the population in the age group 25-64 has
  primary or lower education

30
Education and Labour Force in Bulgaria 1944 -
2004

• Thank you!
• Conference on Medium-Term Economic Assessment
  (CMTEA)
• Sofia, Bulgaria, September 29-30, 2005