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Ethnic patterns of returns to education in Bulgaria: Do minorities have an incentive to invest in education?

Author

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  • Claudia Trentini

    (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe)

Abstract

It is widely accepted that disparities in education contribute to the poor labor market outcomes experienced by ethnic minority groups and consequently to their poverty. However, incentives to invest in education are significantly diminished if individuals are discriminated in the labor market and precluded from access to employment. In this paper we analyze differential educational benefits in Bulgaria and compare Roma returns to education with the majority population and the Turkish minority. We show that both ethnic minority groups have lower educational levels and employment rates than the majority population and that they also have lower returns to education. However, the gap in returns to education is much wider for the Roma with respect to both employment and labour-market earnings. The evidence suggests that this group is more vulnerable to discrimination, with a high percentage of the employment gap unexplained by differences in observable skills or characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudia Trentini, 2011. "Ethnic patterns of returns to education in Bulgaria: Do minorities have an incentive to invest in education?," ECE Discussion Papers Series 2011_1, UNECE.
    • Handle: RePEc:ece:dispap:2011_1
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    File URL: http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/oes/disc_papers/ECE_DP_2011-1.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2011
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    minorities; Roma; discrimination; returns to education; transition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination
    • P36 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Consumer Economics; Health; Education and Training; Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty

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