Higher Education and Long-Term Manpower Planning in Communist Romania (1950-1975): An Empirical Study (pages 87-96)
Vlad PAŞCA
Article first published online: 30 June 2014

Keywords: manpower planning, socialist system, higher education, professionals, prognosis.

Abstract. This article tries to analyze the manpower planning approach in regard to the Romanian higher education system during Communism. I will argue that long-term planning, although commonly used in the context of demand economy, was not a reliable instrument when it came to education. Archival research has outlined the connections and also the variations between the long-term ‘cadres’ plans and higher education outcomes, in an attempt to better assess the feasibility of manpower planning in a socialist economy. The empirical analysis confirms the theoretical approach used by Jan Sadlak in the 1980s, but also provides additional outlooks regarding the practical and conceptual limitations of centralized normative planning.

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