CHANGE IN ECONOMIC STRUCTURE, EXPANSION OF UNIVERSITY TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT OF NON-WAGE EMPLOYMENT

The present paper investigates the development of nonwage employment (NWE) in the context of sensible changes in economic structure, by increasing the relative importance of the services’ sector and labour force supply due to an expansion of higher education. We identify factors which favour the expansion of NWE in the context of transition to knowledge-based economy in the countries with solid market economy. A comparative analysis is made about the relative importance of employment in European Union member countries and a series of correlations performed with other structural indicators of the labour force market. On this basis, the conclusion is that the NWE physiognomy is dependent to a significant extent on the development degree and sectoral structure of the economy in various countries. The analysis of the NWE development is deepened in the case of Romania by paying special attention to the case of higher educated individuals. It is found that the increases in the number of self-employed persons with higher education is mainly a forced choice for avoiding entering unemployment and only at secondary level the expression of a new type of entrepreneurial spirit, as in the case of countries with consolidated market economy.