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

Abstract

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.