International Migration and Gender Differentials in the Home Labor Market: Evidence from Albania

This paper examines the role of male-dominated international migration in shaping labor market outcomes by gender in migrant-sending households in Albania. Using detailed information on family migration experience from the latest Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) survey, we find that male and female labor supplies respond differently to current and past migration episodes of household members. Controlling for the potential endogeneity of migration and for the income (remittances) effect, estimates show that having a migrant abroad decreases female paid labor supply while increasing unpaid work. On the other hand, women with past family migration experience are significantly more likely to engage in self-employment and less likely to supply unpaid work. The same relationships do not hold for men. These findings suggest that over time male-dominated Albanian migration may lead to women’s empowerment in the access to income-earning opportunities at origin.International Migration, Gender, Labor supply, Albania

International migration and gender differentials in the home labor market: evidence from Albania

This paper examines the role of male-dominated international migration in shaping labor market outcomes by gender in migrant-sending households in Albania. Using detailed information on family migration experience from the latest Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) survey, we find that male and female labor supplies respond differently to current and past migration episodes of household members. Controlling for the potential endogeneity of migration and for the income (remittances) effect, estimates show that having a migrant abroad decreases female paid labor supply while increasing unpaid work. On the other hand, women with household members with past migration experience are significantly more likely to engage in self-employment and less likely to supply unpaid work. The same relationships do not hold for men. These findings suggest that over time male-dominated Albanian migration may lead to women’s empowerment in the access to income-earning opportunities at origin.

International migration and gender differentials in the home labor market : evidence from Albania

This paper examines the role of male-dominated international migration in shaping labor market outcomes by gender in migrant-sending households in Albania. Using detailed information on family migration experience from the latest Living Standards Measurement Study survey, the authors find that male and female labor supplies respond differently to the current and past migration episodes of household members. Controlling for the potential endogeneity of migration and for the income (remittances) effect, the estimates show that having a migrant abroad decreases female paid labor supply and increases unpaid work. However, women with past family migration experience are significantly more likely to engage in self-employment and less likely to supply unpaid work. The same relationships do not hold for men. These findings suggest that over time male-dominated Albanian migration may lead to women's empowerment in access to income-earning opportunities at the origin.Labor Markets,Population Policies,Labor Policies,Access to Finance,Gender and Development

Measuring Food Security Using Respondents' Perception of Food Consumption Adequacy

food security, qualitative indicators, quantitative indicators, household surveys, Albania, Indonesia, Madagascar,

Being Poor, Feeling Poorer: Combining objective and subjective measures of welfare in Albania

As shown empirically for many transition economies, even small changes in assumptions on economies of size and adult equivalence scales are likely to produce significant changes in the analysis of poverty and its distribution across households and individuals. Since such exercises are then used to orient and prioritize policy actions (e.g. the targeting of scarce social assistance resources) it is important to refine our understanding of the extent to which poverty measures and the resulting profiles are sensitive to specific assumptions. In this paper we investigate how combining objective and subjective measures of welfare can provide insights that are helpful in addressing these questions, particularly with respect to the presence of economies of scale in consumption.Albania, Development policies, Economic development, Economic dualism, Economic systems, Income, Informal sector, Living standards, Mathematical models, Poverty, Rural development, Social change, Social conditions, Social policies, Social welfare, Socioec

Migration, Transfers and Economic Decision Making among Agricultural Households: an Introduction

The increasing volume of remittances and public transfers in rural areas of the developing world has raised hopes that these inflows may serve as an effective mechanism for reducing poverty in the long term by facilitating investments and raising productivity, particularly in agriculture where market failures are most manifest. The seven papers in this special issue systematically test the relationship between transfers and productive spending amongst rural households in six different countries. Overall, the studies embrace a less optimistic view of the role of migration and public and private transfers on agriculture, with migration as facilitating a transition away from agriculture or to models of less labour intensive agriculture.

Moving Away from Poverty: A spatial analysis of poverty and migration in Albania

This paper analyses recent patterns of migration and poverty in Albania, a country that - following the collapse of the communist regime in 1990 – has been experiencing high migration rates. Using a combination of survey and census data, the paper characterises spatial patterns in the distribution of poverty and migration at a high level of geographic disaggregation. The results emphasise the importance of analysing internal and international migration as different phenomena, as the two appear to be associated in opposite ways to observed poverty and welfare levels. While poverty acts as a push factor for internal migration, it seems to be a constraining factor for the more costly international migration. The results also suggest that rural migration to urban areas contributes to the relocation of poverty in urban areas.Poverty, Migration, Albania.

Familiar Faces, Familiar Places: The role of family networks and previous experience for Albanian migrants

Using data from the 2003 Albania Panel Survey, the paper sets out to achieve two main objectives. First, we fully characterize the evolution of Albanian international migration since the fall of Communism in 1990. We distinguish between permanent and temporary migration, and between the two principal destinations, Greece and Italy. Second, we explore, using multivariate analysis, what individual, household and community level factors influence the current decision to migrate internationally, focusing on the role of previous personal experience and family networks. We find evidence of important changes over time in the pull and push factors that drive migration flows. While early on in the transition political and economic factors were predominant, over time personal experience and household migration networks assumed a fundamental role, facilitating growth in migration even in times of the relatively stable economic conditions. Other individual, household, and community factors have an important role in the decision to migrate, and these factors vary by type of migration and destination. Furthermore, the spatial configuration of migration is also changing: both temporary and permanent migration are expanding into new parts of the country. The results have important policy implications. First, policies aimed at controlling migration are likely to be less effective where networks have already developed or where engrained patterns of repeat migration are established. Second, despite increasing legality, migration, particularly for newcomers, is still difficult, risky and often illegal, which fosters a climate of exploitation and abuse. Third, we find that highly educated individuals have a higher propensity to migrate permanently, which constitutes a serious potential risk in terms of brain drain.Albania, Families, Migration, Population dynamics, Rural urban migration, Social groups, Sociology, Urban rural migration

Monitoring Poverty without Consumption Data: An application using the Albania panel survey

In developing countries poverty is generally measured with expenditure data. Such data are difficult and costly to obtain and it is generally recommended to collect them every 3-5 years. In between surveys, however, there is a clear need to provide policymakers with information for the monitoring of poverty trends. The paper reviews several such methods and compares the poverty estimates and trends resulting from their application to a panel dataset for Albania. The results are broadly consistent across methods and point to an overall improvement in welfare conditions over time, although the magnitude of the changes differs by locale, with urban areas showing a larger improvement than their rural counterparts. However, given the sensitivity of the predictions to model specification, it is worthwhile to construct alternative welfare indicators and triangulate results. Lacking a gold standard measure, the use of a suite of welfare indicators, if duly validated, could be a viable approach to monitor poverty trends; some caution should be exercised in drawing conclusions about the actual magnitudes of the changes.Poverty, Welfare, Asset index, Poverty measurement, Poverty monitoring.