Die Gesetzesreform zur Entwicklung des wissenschaftlichen Personals in Bulgarien: Eine ökonomische Gesetzesfolgenabschätzung[The Reform of the Higher Education Law on the Development of Academic Staff in Bulgaria: An Economic Analysis]

The academic education law in Bulgaria was reformed in May 2010. The reform changes the institutional setting for academic careers. The new system assigns considerably higher autonomy to academic organisations concerning the awarding of academic titles and the offering of positions. In this article I examine the incentives of the new law on the behaviour of people who pursue an academic career in Bulgaria. The results of the economic analysis show that the reform causes positive effects on several layers. Individuals are motivated by extrinsic incentives leading to a more active participation in research and publication. By abolishing the central national organisation which was in charge of awarding academic titles and positions, an intensified competition among a number of organisations emerges. Furthermore, I expect a substantial degree of resistance against this reform and, also, that its results will be discernible only in the long run. For the reform to become a success a crucial factor is whether and how the academic organisations manage to independently adapt their structures of self-administration to it.