So Many Rocket Scientists, so Few Marketing Clerks: The Measurement, Determinants and Impact of Occupational Change in the Estonian Transition

Posted: 12 Sep 2001

See all articles by Nauro F. Campos

Nauro F. Campos

University College London; University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - The William Davidson Institute; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Aurelijus Dabusinskas

Bank of Estonia

Date Written: January 2001

Abstract

The transition from centrally planned to market economy entails a massive process of occupational change that has been largely neglected in the literature. This paper fills this void by providing a detailed description of this process and by investigating its determinants and consequences. Using data from a representative survey of Estonian workers from 1989 to 1995, we estimate that between 35 and 50% of all employed workers changed occupation in this short period of time. Further, we find that the bulk of these occupational switches occurred in the early years of the transition. As for the determinants of occupational change, we find that the main factors lowering the probability of an employed worker changing occupation are gender (female) and longer potential experience and job tenure. Surprisingly, (present or future) returns to current and alternative occupations do not play a systematic role in explaining the probability of switching. Regarding the impact of occupational change, we find that the private costs of occupational mobility have outweighed the benefits (occupational mobility restrains wage growth).

Keywords: Occupational Mobility, Human Capital, Transition Economies.

JEL Classification: J62, J63, J64, J23, C41, H53

Suggested Citation

Campos, Nauro F. and Dabusinskas, Aurelijus, So Many Rocket Scientists, so Few Marketing Clerks: The Measurement, Determinants and Impact of Occupational Change in the Estonian Transition (January 2001). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=282974

Nauro F. Campos (Contact Author)

University College London ( email )

Gower Street
London, WC1E 6BT
United Kingdom

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - The William Davidson Institute

724 E. University Ave.
Wyly Hall
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1234
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Aurelijus Dabusinskas

Bank of Estonia ( email )

Estonia Building 13
15095 Tallinn
Estonia

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