Agency, Education and Networks : Gender and International Migration from Albania
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 laborat...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/02/8989063/agency-education-networks-gender-international-migration-albania http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6363 |
| Summary: | 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. |
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