TRAMES 3, 4, 2000

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN TRANSITION: POPULATION OF FOREIGN ORIGIN IN ESTONIA IN THE 1990s

Allan Puur

Estonian Interuniversity Population Research Centre

Abstract. The article examines the changes in the economic activity of foreign-origin population in Estonia during the period of economic transition, relative to the experience of native population. To provide a background for recent developments, the paper includes a concise overview of the emergence of foreign-origin population, based on census data. To outline the labour market position of foreign-origin population on the eve of transition, microdata from the 1989 census are used. The data for transition period are derived from the first round of national labour force survey, which applying the retrospective design, supplied detailed work histories for 9608 individuals between 1989-1995. The analysis covers the developments of employment, unemployment and economic inactivity, sectoral composition of employment, size of workplace, multiple jobholding, self-employment, etc. In addition to time series of labour market indicators, consideration is given to flows between labour market states. The analysis reveals a relatively worse outcome of labour market adjustment among foreign-origin population, related mainly to selective employment composition prior to transition.

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