Dynamics of Labour Markets in Bulgaria: The Case of the Town of Pernik
Dynamics of Labour Markets in Bulgaria: The Case of the Town of Pernik

Summary/Abstract: The author provides an analysis of the Bulgarian labour market in the transition process, illustrating national trends using the example of a local labour market segment: the town of Pernik that used to be a typical town of socialist industrialisation. The establishment of a functioning market economy, democratic political institutions and cultural pluralism in Bulgaria has been acknowledged by the international community. However, this progress and the achievements in the country’s foreign policy are not sufficiently impressive for many Bulgarians. Public opinion polls show significant discrepancies between the positive institutional changes and their perceptions by the people, who have waited a long time for a better standard of living and a better quality of life. The slow pace of the positive changes and the high social costs of the transition provide evidence that neither the elites nor the public at large were prepared to cope efficiently with quick, radical and simultaneous changes in all the spheres of public life.

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