NEETS in Croatia - not in employment, education or training - but where are they?

a) Ciljevi projekta: Cilj ovog osvrta je predstaviti programe i politike norveškog tržišta rada kako bi se identificirala NEET populacija („oni koji nisu zaposleni, niti u sustavu obrazovanja i obučavanja/osposobljavanja“), spriječilo njezino nastajanje, te joj se pomoglo u obrazovanju, osposobljavanju ili zapošljavanju. U tom kontekstu, također će se analizirati kako su odgovornosti podijeljene između Zavoda za rad i socijalna pitanja (Labour and Welfare Services - NAV) i drugih institucija, odnosno, sektora obrazovanja, zdravstva i lokalnih razina vlasti. Nadalje, cilj je identificirati mogućnosti za daljnje unaprjeđenje i razvoj takvih akcija i partnerstva, uz pomoć zemalja koje daju ovaj osvrt. b) Očekivani rezultati/ishodi: Glavni rezultat projekta je izvješće stručnjaka zemlje koja daje osvrt (Hrvatske) koje treba sadržavati sljedeće: vrlo kratak pregled nacionalnog pristupa rješavanju problema NEET populacije; ocjena mjera politike zemlje domaćina (Norveške); ocjena faktora uspješnosti i prenosivosti; i daljnje informacije ili pojašnjenja u obliku pitanja. Osim toga, od stručnjaka zemlje koja daje osvrt (Hrvatske) očekuje se da prisustvuju i aktivno doprinose sastanku stručnjaka (Peer Review sastanku) koji će se odvijati 24. i 25. rujna u Oslu. c) Aktivnosti: Pregled dokumenta države domaćina (Norveške) o temi projekta; intervjuiranje nacionalnog predstavnika Vlade u cilju prikupljanja vladinih stavova i komentara na primjere iz prakse, kao i za prikupljanje podataka o usporedivim primjerima iz zemlje koja daje osvrt (Hrvatske); pisanje završnog izvješća kao neovisni stručnjak; sudjelovanje na sastanku stručnjaka (Peer Review sastanku) 24. i 25. rujna u Oslu. d) Opis metodologije: Korištenje nacionalne literature i službenih dokumenata o temi projekta, kao i intervjuiranje nacionalnog predstavnika Vlade u cilju ocjene glavnih sličnosti i razlika između zemlje domaćina (Norveške) i zemlje koja daje osvrt (Hrvatske) u kontekstu pristupa NEET populaciji

Employment protection reforms and labour market outcomes in the aftermath of the recession: Evidence from Croatia

This paper examines the effects of employment protection legislation (EPL) reforms on employment outcomes in Croatia, testing the available theoretical predictions of partial labour market reforms from the literature. With a push from the EU accession, the reforms liberalised employment protection provisions for both temporary (2013) and permanent (2014) contracts at the end of the six-year long recession thus presenting a distinctive case for policy evaluation. Using Labour Force Survey (LFS) data in the period 2007-2017 and applying the event study method in combination with probit regressions, the main results suggest that EPL reforms from 2013 and 2014 induced a rise in temporary employment, while the effects on overall employment are clearly visible only in the case of the second reform. Moreover, probit regression estimations show that specific groups of the population – females, youths, foreigners, the low-skilled and singles from rural areas – have a higher probability of ending up with temporary contracts, suggesting there is a segmentation on the Croatian labour market

What Happened to the Middle Class in the New Market Economies? The Case of Croatia and Poland

Transition countries are believed to have undergone significant social and economic structural changes. Indeed, the early transition resulted in the modification of ownership structure and recognized processes of labor reallocation as well as in rapid educational booms in many Central and Eastern European countries. In this paper we shed some light on the changes regarding the size and composition of the middle class in two transition countries, Croatia and Poland, in the period 1995-2008. In general, the size of the middle class – as defined by individuals with wages around the median – decreased in Poland roughly between 2000 and 2001, while in Croatia it returned to its initial, mid-1990s levels despite a temporary drop in the size. Our analysis of consecutive Labor Force Surveys suggests that the composition of the middle class underwent no serious structural changes over the past decade. The most important finding is that highly skilled workers have moved above the position of middle class in Croatia, while in Poland they have mostly extended the middle class

How hard does the tax bite hurt? Croatian vs. European worker

The main objective of this paper is to analyse the tax burden in Croatia and to find out whether and how the size and the structure of total labour costs affect the functioning of the labour market. The tax wedge, together with employment and unemployment rates, is brought into play to classify EU countries and Croatia into clusters using K-means and hierarchical clustering. The results show that Croatia is classified among countries with a high tax wedge and a high unemployment rate. The same holds when, instead of the tax wedge, personal average tax rate is considered. However, in Croatia most of the tax burden is borne by the employees, not by the employers. Thus, the average Croatian industry worker bears a relatively high tax burden, which is exacerbated when the newly introduced “crisis tax” and increased VAT are taken into account

The Efficiency of the Matching Process: Exploring the Impact of Regional Employment Offices in Croatia

U radu se istražuje učinkovitost procesa sparivanja na hrvatskom tržištu rada putem ocjene funkcije sparivanja. Funkcija je ocijenjena metodom panel stohastičke granice na regionalnim podacima HZZ-a tijekom razdoblja 2000.-2011. Rezultati pokazuju kako učinkovitost raste tijekom vremena, s velikim varijacijama među regijama. Kako bi se istražile te varijacije u drugoj fazi ocjene modela uključene su strukturne karakteristike tržišta rada zajedno s nekim varijablama koje bi trebale predstavljati mjere politike. Među strukturnim varijablama najvažniji pozitivan učinak na učinkovitost sparivanja ima udio poljoprivrednih i visoko kvalificiranih radnika, dok najveći negativan utjecaj imaju regionalna stopa nezaposlenosti te udio nisko kvalificiranih radnika i onih bez iskustva na tržištu rada. Što se tiče mjera politike – i aktivne politike na tržištu rada kao i broj visoko kvalificiranih zaposlenika u područnim uredima za zapošljavanje pozitivno utječu na učinkovitost procesa sparivanja. Nadalje, kada se u model uključi regionalni dohodak po stanovniku - on također pokazuje pozitivan utjecaj na učinkovitost sparivanja što govori da fluktuacije na strani potražnje također utječu na proces sparivanja. Kako bi dobili konzistentnu ocjenu modela, ocijenjen je i transformirani model panel stohastičke granice. Preliminarni rezultati pokazuju da ne postoji velika razlika u prosječnom tehničkom koeficijentu učinkovitosti sparivanja u odnosu na izvorni panel model stohastičke granice.This paper investigates the efficiency of the matching process in Croatian labour market by estimating matching function by panel stochastic frontier estimation on a regional level using Croatian Employment Service data over the 2000-2011 period. Results suggest that the efficiency is rising over time, with great variations across regions. In order to explore these variations, structural characteristics of the labour market together with some policy variables are included into the second-stage estimation. Among structural variables the proportion of agricultural and high-skilled workers have the most important positive effect on matching efficiency, while the local unemployment rate and the share of low-skilled and workers without any experience among job-seekers have the most important negative effect. As far as policy variables are concerned, both ALMPs and the number of high-skilled employees in regional employment offices positively affect matching efficiency. Additionally, when regional income per capita is included into the model it shows positive impact on matching efficiency, indicating that demand fluctuations also affect the matching process. In order to get consistent estimates, panel stochastic frontier model transformation is applied. Preliminary results show that there is no major difference in estimated mean technical efficiency coefficients in comparison to the original panel stochastic frontier model

Structural unemployment in Croatia – How important is the occupational mismatch?

This article studies the importance of structural unemployment in the Croatian labour market via occupational mismatch between vacancies and unemployment in the period 2004–2011. The matching function which incorporates the effect of occupational mismatch on the flow of filled vacancies is used for the aggregate market as well as for different submarkets based on the grouping of similar occupations. It appears that occupational mismatch does not have an impact on the aggregate flow of filled vacancies. The portion of total unemployment that can be attributed to occupational mismatch is estimated to be only up to 6%, while the portion of unemployment attributed to mismatch in different submarkets varies greatly

Las protagonistas en las novelas picarescas

El propósito de la investigación consiste en analizar las características más destacadas de los principales personajes femeninos en cuatro novelas picarescas: La pícara Justina de Francisco López de Úbeda, La ingeniosa Elena de Alonso Salas de Barbadillo, La niña de los embustes – Teresa de Manzanares y La garduña de Sevilla, las últimas dos de Alonso de Castillo Solórzano. Las cuatro obras fueron publicadas entre los años 1605 y 1643. Con el fin de captar el rol de la protagonista femenina en la novela picaresca, someteremos a reflexión sus orígenes familiares, las relaciones matrimoniales, asuntos amorosos y la importancia de la apariencia física así como la profesión laboral. Además, destacaremos las diferencias entre los personajes femeninos y masculinos en la novela picaresca y explicaremos los motivos históricos por los que los creadores de los personajes femeninos frecuentemente sitúan a sus protagonistas en situaciones donde los protagonistas masculinos raramente se encuentran. Observaremos también el modo en el que se ha percibido la libertad femenina en España en el siglo XVI y XVII, y su manifestación en las novelas picarescas femeninas. La astucia, los sentimientos de amor, sentimientos de pasión y la capacidad de fraudes, así como un agradable aspecto físico son las características que siempre acompañan a la pícara en sus hazañas y hacen de ella un personaje más complejo que su equivalente masculino.Cilj ovog rada je analizirati glavna obiljeţja ţenskih pikarskih romana i posebnosti glavnih ženskih likova. Obradit ćemo četiri glavna djela ženskog pikarskog romana: La pícara Justina autora Francisca Lópeza de Úbede, La ingeniosa Elena autora Alonsa Salasa de Barbadille i La niña de los embustes- Teresa de Manzanares y La garduña de Sevilla, posljednje dvije pisca Alonsa de Castilla Solórzana. Sva četiri djela nastala su u razdoblju od gotovo četrdeset godina. Prvo djelo je objavljeno 1605, a posljednje 1643 godine. Kako bismo bolje shvatili ulogu protagonistica pikarskog romana istraţit ćemo njihovu obiteljsku pozadinu, bračne odnose, ljubavne veze i vaţnost vanjskog izgleda te odnos prema fizičkom radu, odnosno sluţenju. Nadalje, istaknut ćemo i razlike između ženskih i muških glavnih likova, pojasnit povijesne kontekst u kojem su stvarane protagonistice pikarskih romana i nastojat iznijeti razloge zbog kojih su pisci svoje ženske likove stavljali u situacije u kojima se rijetko pronalaze muški glavni likovi. Osvrnut ćemo se i na temu ženske slobode u Španjolskoj u XVI i XVII stoljeću. Lukavost, ljubav, strast i spremnost na prevaru te ugodan vanjski izgled značajke su koje uvijek prate protagonisticu pikarskih romana u njenim pustolovinama i čine ju puno kompleksnijim likom u odnosu na njenog muškog ekvivalenta

What drives youth unemployment in Europe?

This article explores the main determinants of youth unemployment rates in Europe in the period 2002‐2014, by estimating panel data models on a unique dataset for 28 EU member countries. Taking into account heterogeneity among EU countries, models are also estimated on two different subsamples: high and low youth unemployment rate. The results suggest that for better understanding of the determinants of youth unemployment in Europe it is not only relevant to focus on traditional macroeconomic variables, but it is also important to consider different structural and institutional factors. Hence, main empirical results suggest that youth unemployment in the EU is more pronounced in countries with poor GDP growth, low share of construction and high public debt. Low share of temporary employment and high perceived corruption also matter. Less mobility due to homeownership, high remittances from abroad, low work intensity of other household members or less possibilities for young people to live outside parental homes are also meaningful, at least for EU countries with comparatively high youth unemployment rates. These results could be of high importance, especially when determining and evaluating different measures taken in order to mitigate (high) youth unemployment rates in Europe