The shortage of skills sought by keyexport-oriented and import competing industries in Bosniaand Herzegovina (henceforth, 'BH') is substantialand if left unaddressed, threatens to constrain futureeconomic growth of the country.Prior to the onset of theglobal economic crisis, BH enjoyed strong rates of economicgrowth based to a significant degree on the growth ofexports. On average, exports grew at an impressive 34percent per year between 1995 and 2008.Our analysishowever confirms that the growth of exporting, as well asimport-competing industries is increasingly becomingconstrained by the shortage of skills in the labor force.In this report we seek to identify these shortages and theirlikely causes and recommend reforms and policies which canprevent the plummeting of economic growth due to lack ofadequate skills. Firm-level evidence confirms that theshortage of qualified workers is becoming a serious obstacleto growth of BH exporting companies. This reportinvestigates what types of skills firms are looking for andare not finding in the marketplace. The policyrecommendation section of this study seeks to provide ideasand direction for the BH government to address these labormarket challenges.
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