Regional Long-term and Short-term Unemployment and Education in Transition: The Case of Poland

This paper examines regional disparities in long-term (LTU) and short-term (STU) unemployment in Poland paying particular attention to the role of education. It analyses how: 1) LTU and STU vary across regions; and 2) differences in LTU and STU are affected by the type and level of education of the unemployed, as well as by other economic and structural variables. Regional variations in STU and LTU are much greater than for overall unemployment. Using regression analysis, we find that human capital as measured by type and level of education, as well as several other variables, is significantly related to regional unemployment rates. Coefficients and significance levels often differ depending on whether we are looking at LTU, STU or total U.