Agency, Education and Networks : Gender and International Migration from Albania

Stecklov, Guy ; Carletto, Calogero ; Azzarri, Carlo ; Davis, Benjamin

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ANTHROPOLOGY;    BORDERS;    BOTH SEXES;    CITIZENSHIP;    CULTURAL NORMS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-4507
RP-ID  :  WPS4507

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper examines the causes anddynamics of the shift in the gender composition ofmigration, and more particularly, in the access of women tomigration opportunities and decision making. The context ofthe analysis is Albania, a natural laboratory for studyingmigration developments given that out-migration waspractically eliminated from the end of World War II to theend of the 1980s. The authors use micro-level data from theAlbania 2005 Living Standards Measurement Study includingmigration histories for family members since migrationbegan. Based on discrete-time hazard models, the analysisshows an impressive expansion of female participation ininternational migration. Female migration, which is shown tobe strongly associated with education, wealth, and socialcapital, appears responsive to economic incentives andconstraints. Yet, using unique data on the dependency offemale migration to the household demographic structure aswell as the sensitivity of female migration tohousehold-level shocks, the authors show that it is thehouseholds themselves that are the decision-making agentsbehind this economic calculus and there is little to suggestthat increased female migration signals the emergence offemale agency.