Over the past twenty-five years, wage inequality has fallen in Slovenia, even as it has risen in most developed economies. The rates of return to education and work experience rose and remained high on average. However, rapid increases in the number of college graduates have outpaced the rising relative demand for skill among the youngest labor market entrants. As a result, the youngest cohorts of college graduates have experienced declining returns to education and a downward shift in their occupational distribution, which has not been experienced by older college graduates. These changes coincide with the implementation of the Bologna Reform, which reduced the length of time necessary to complete a bachelor’s degree and contributed to the incentives to attend college. Falling returns to tertiary education contributed to declining within-cohort wage inequality among the young, which was large enough to reduce overall wage inequality.

在过去的 25 年中，斯洛文尼亚的工资不平等现象有所下降，尽管大多数发达经济体的不平等现象有所加剧。教育和工作经验的回报率上升，并保持在平均水平。然而，大学毕业生人数的快速增长已经超过了最年轻劳动力市场进入者对技能相对增长的需求。结果，最年轻的大学毕业生群体经历了教育回报下降和职业分布的下降，这是年龄较大的大学毕业生所没有经历过的。这些变化与博洛尼亚改革的实施相吻合，博洛尼亚改革减少了完成学士学位所需的时间，并促进了上大学的动力。