Berufserfolg im Transformationsprozess : eine theoretisch-empirische Studie über die Gewinner und Verlierer der Wende in Ostdeutschland

Abstract

This study focuses on the explanation of changes in occupational success in East Germany since the political turnover in 1989. In a broader context it aims to explain how the winners and losers of transformation processes as in East Germany emerge. The explanation of occupational success is based on the assumption that as a consequence of political change the economic system has changed and with it the labour market conditions. Labour market actors meet with these new conditions by varying degrees. They will use their resources in order to adapt to labour market changes as successfully as possible. As resources, human capital as well as social and political resources are investigated. Next to changing labour market conditions and different resources of labour market participants, other actor restrictions (i.e., their family situation and other social characteristics) are considered to provide explanations of changing labour market success. To get an understanding of the changes of the East German labour market, document studies and expert interviews have been conducted. Survey data about the East German work force were analysed to chart the changes for different labour market segments and different regions. Career data of labour market participants have been collected in a joint Dutch-German data collection. Two randomly selected samples in Leipzig and Dresden were repeatedly interviewed between 1992 and 1994 resulting in about 850 interviews with 490 persons. These persons were between 30 and 55 years of age who had a job before the turnover in 1989. The questionnaires provide data on the former personal networks as well as the living and working conditions of the respondents. The results of this study come from analyses of the combined data on general labour market changes and individual careers. Using the job-titles of all respondents in 1989, they were categorized with regard to labour market segments and types of occupations. In this way, data about changing labour market conditions, resources of individual labour market participants, and their social characteristics could be analysed with regard to their particular impact on changes in occupational success, that is employment status, income and occupational prestige. For statistical analyses mainly regression methods are applied.