Education and shifts between labour-market states in the transition from the socialist to the market economy: The Slovenian case

Transitions between states in the labour market in the period 1974-1994 are analysed to identify how changes in labour-market structures in the period of transition from the socialist to the market economy have affected the role of investment in education and qualifications in the process of allocation of people to jobs. Job shifts as well as shifts from jobs to self-employment, unemployment, and exits from the labour market have been included. Only upward mobility is associated with better educational achievements while other job mobility forms seem to depend more heavily on job- or occupation-specific resources and personal characteristics. The improvement of education while in employment has not proved to be an important short-term individual mobility resource. On the other hand, non-formal training at the beginning of one's career is likely to foster upward and inter-firm shifts. In times of profound structural change, institutional arrangements negotiated by the main economic and political actors in order to mitigate their negative effects, seem to alter the genuine effects of investment in human capital on labour-market processes.