Publication: Migration and Labour Choice in Albania
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2008-10
ISSN
11098597
Published
2008-10
Editor(s)
Abstract
Very little analysis exists of the income-generating strategies of Albanian households, and how this relates to income dynamics, people's mobility and poverty. Results show that agricultural, migration and human capital assets have a differential impact across livelihood choices, and that this impact varies by gender and age. Two areas of policy concern derive from this analysis. First, migration is clearly crucial for the economic future of Albania, in terms of fuelling economic development in rural areas, and in reducing excess labour supply and poverty. The suggestion of a potential disincentive effect on labour effort and participation is, however, worrying, as it would have implications in terms of missed opportunities for development. Second, agriculture appears to be more of a survival strategy than part of a poverty exit strategy.
Link to Data Set
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Citations
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Investing Back Home : Return Migration and Business Ownership in Albania(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-09)In view of its increasing importance, and the dearth of information on return migration and its impacts on source households, this study uses data from the 2005 Albania Living Standards Measurement Study survey and assesses the impact of past migration experience of Albanian households on non-farm business ownership through instrumental variables regression techniques. Moreover, considering the differences in earning potentials and opportunities for skill acquisition in different destination countries, the impact of household past migration experience is differentiated by main migrant destinations, namely Greece and Italy. The study also tests for the hypothesis of the existence of migration cycles, by differentiating the time spent abroad based on the year of return. The empirical results indicate that household past migration experience exerts a positive impact on the probability of owning a non-farm business. While one additional year in Greece increases the probability of household business ownership by roughly 7 percent, a similar experience in Italy or further destinations raises the probability by over 30 percent. Although past migration experience for the period 1990-2000 is positively associated with the likelihood of owning a household enterprise, a similar impact does not materialize for the period 2001-2004. The latter finding seems suggestive of the fact that more recent migrants are yet to attain a target level of required savings and skills in order to successfully establish a new business upon return.Publication Investing Back Home : Return Migration and Business Ownership in Albania(2009)This study uses data from the 2005 Albania Living Standards Measurement Study survey to assess the impact of past migration experience of Albanian households on non-farm business ownership through instrumental variables regression techniques. Considering the differences in earning potentials and opportunities for skill acquisition in different destination countries, we differentiate the impact of past household migration experience by main migrant destinations. The study also explores the heterogeneity of impact based on the timing of migration. The empirical results indicate that past household migration experience exerts a positive impact on the probability of owning a non-farm business. While one additional year in Greece increases the probability of household business ownership by roughly 6 percent, a similar experience in Italy or farther destinations raises the probability by over 25 percent. Although past household migration experience for the period of 1990-2000 is positively associated with the likelihood of owning a household enterprise, a similar association does not exist for the period of 2001-2004.Publication Agency, Education and Networks : Gender and International Migration from Albania(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-02)This paper examines the causes and dynamics of the shift in the gender composition of migration, and more particularly, in the access of women to migration opportunities and decision making. The context of the analysis is Albania, a natural laboratory for studying migration developments given that out-migration was practically eliminated from the end of World War II to the end of the 1980s. The authors use micro-level data from the Albania 2005 Living Standards Measurement Study including migration histories for family members since migration began. Based on discrete-time hazard models, the analysis shows an impressive expansion of female participation in international migration. Female migration, which is shown to be strongly associated with education, wealth, and social capital, appears responsive to economic incentives and constraints. Yet, using unique data on the dependency of female migration to the household demographic structure as well as the sensitivity of female migration to household-level shocks, the authors show that it is the households themselves that are the decision-making agents behind this economic calculus and there is little to suggest that increased female migration signals the emergence of female agency.Publication Moving Up the Ladder? The Impact of Migration Experience on Occupational Mobility in Albania(2011)This study uses the 2005 Albanian Living Standards Measurement Study Survey and estimates the impact of international migration experience on the occupational mobility of return migrants vis-a-vis working-age Albanian residents that never migrated. Controlling for the non-random nature of international migration and return, the results show that past migration experience increases the likelihood of upward occupational mobility. Since such impact is likely to depend on differences in earning potentials and opportunities for skill acquisition across destination countries, we explore the heterogeneity of impact by host country. The results indicate that the positive effect of past migration experience on upward occupational mobility is driven by past migration experience in Italy and countries further afield, while past migration experience in Greece does not exert any significant impact on mobility outcomes.Publication Modeling Migration Dynamics in Albania : A Hazard Function Approach(2009-05-01)Since 1990 migration flows from Albania have been massive, relative to the size of the country and its population, but they have also fluctuated over time. This paper presents and discusses various descriptive trends, mainly in graphical form. The data come from the Albanian Living Standards Measurement Survey, 2005 round, and cover the period 1990-2004. The resulting observed trends reflect changing push and pull factors in Albania and the two main host countries, Greece and Italy. The paper also presents a hazard approach to modeling Albanian emigration and return migration. This analysis highlights, among other things, the relevance of networks in Albanian migration dynamics, both to promote emigration and to delay return.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
No results found.