Article 2019

The effect of different types of education on the likelihood of employment in 29 post-communist countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union

Higher Education, Skills and Work-based Learning
Journal · Vol. 9 · Issue 4 · pp. 723-738
Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of a variety of levels of education, namely, high school, vocational and university education, on the probability of being employed in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Design/methodology/approach: The data are from two waves of the Life-in-Transition Survey that covers 29 post-communist transitional countries. The number of binary logistic models is estimated to quantify the effects of different types of education on the likelihood of being employed, while controlling for different sets of covariates. Findings: The findings reveal that the effect of employment associated with university education is higher than that of vocational education, which in turn is higher than that of high school education. However, the differences between the effects of the various levels of education are not considerable. Any specific level of education is always associated with a higher effect in Eastern Europe as compared to the former Soviet Union. The effect of education is also found to be higher for females than for males. In the former Soviet Union, the positive effect of university and vocational education on employment is found to go down with age. Originality/value: This is the first study which compares effect of different types of education on probability of being employed on a diverse sample of 29 post-communist countries over the period of five years. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Keywords

Author Keywords

employment human capital Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia Effect of schooling Return to schooling

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada
Funding & Acknowledgements
No funding information
References 10 References
1 Alexeev, Michael V., Returns to human capital under uncertain reform: Good guys finish last, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 37, 1, pp. 53-70, (1998)
2 Ammermueller, Andreas, Schooling quality in Eastern Europe: Educational production during transition, Economics of Education Review, 24, 5, pp. 579-599, (2005)
3 Anderson, Kathryn H., Education and social policy in Central Asia: The next stage of the transition, Social Policy and Administration, 39, 4, pp. 361-380, (2005)
4 Andrén, Daniela, The wage effects of schooling under socialism and in transition: Evidence from Romania, 1950-2000, Journal of Comparative Economics, 33, 2, pp. 300-323, (2005)
5 Beyond Transition the Newsletter about Reforming Economies, (2002)
6 Bardasi, Elena, Women's employment, children and transition: An empirical analysis for Poland, Economics of Transition, 17, 1, pp. 147-173, (2009)
7 Barro, Robert T., Education and economic growth, Annals of Economics and Finance, 14, 2, pp. 301-328, (2013)
8 Human Capital A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, (1964)
9 Beirne, John, Educational inputs and outcomes before the transition from communism, Economics of Transition, 15, 1, pp. 57-76, (2007)
10 Hidden Challenges to Education Systems in Transition Economies, (2000)
Quick Actions
Full Text via DOI
Citation Metrics
8
Times Cited (Scopus)

References 10
Document Identifiers