Migration of the skilled from Albania: brain drain or brain gain?

Abstract

This paper discusses migration of the skilled from Albania in the post-1990 period. It first highlights the scale of skilled migration and then examines the channels through which the phenomenon might have affected Albania's development. In recent years the issue of skilled migration and its impact has attracted the attention of both the Albanian government and civil society. The message delivered through this paper is, however, that while the country has possibly experienced substantial outflows of human capital, the impact the phenomenon has had on Albania's development is unknown. The paucity of data and research imposes severe limitations, preventing at the same time policy-makers from having the relevant information required for developing policies to manage skill losses and capacity-building in the country.

Notes

¹ In this paper the term skilled migration refers to migration of working-age individuals with at least tertiary educational attainment.

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³ J. Bhagwati and K. Hamada, ‘The brain drain, international integration of markets for professionals and unemployment: a theoretical analysis’, Journal of Development Economics, 1(1), 1974, pp. 19–42.

⁴ L. Lowell and A. Findlay, Migration of Highly Skilled Persons from Developing Countries: Impact and Policy Responses, International Migration Paper 44, International Labour Organization, Geneva, 2001; M. Todaro and S. Smith, Economic Development, Pearson and Addison, Wesley, 2006.

⁵ The effect of leapfrogging is to keep wages continuously rising at a fairly rapid rate. Where the wage increases are covered by increased productivity, can be met by profits, or can be offset by reduction in other costs, leapfrogging is not harmful to the economy. In the opposite scenario, however, employers may be obliged to pay for the higher wages by raising prices. In turn, increased prices raise the cost of living, and when the process has spread from industry to industry, the workers find that their pay increases have been cancelled out by rising prices. Skilled migration comes in with the link to productivity which suffers when the skilled leave the country, as the capacity to innovate and adapt modern technologies is lowered as a result.

⁶ R. Lucas, International Migration to the High Income Countries: Some Economic Consequences for Economic Development in Sending Countries, Boston University, Boston, 2004; M. Schiff, ‘Brain gain: claims about its size and impact on welfare and growth are greatly exaggerated’, in Ç. Ozden and M. Schiff (eds), International Migration, Remittances and the Brain Drain, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2006, pp. 201–05.

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¹² I. Gedeshi, H. Mara, R. Dhimitri, K. Krisafi, Emigration of the Albanian Elite During the Transition Period, Luarasi, Tirana, 1999 [in Albanian]; F. Mema, ‘Albania: vortices of imbalances’, Higher Education in Europe, 29(3), 2004, pp. 309–17; M. Tafaj, ‘Considerations about the massive brain drain from Albania and strategies attracting high-qualified scientists’, concept paper prepared for the Ministry of Education and Science, Tirana, 2005; E. Trimçev, E. Dakli and S. Ymeri, Turning the Tide. Albanian Brain Drain, Albanian Institute for International Studies, Tirana, 2005; I. Gedeshi and R. Black, From Brain Drain to Brain Gain: Mobilising Albania's Skilled Diaspora, UNDP Albania, Tirana, 2006.

¹³ I. Gedeshi, ‘The relationship between migration and socio-economic changes in Albania’, in A. Breinbauer, The Role of Migration and Diaspora in the Political and Socio-Economic Reform and EU Integration Processes in South East Europe, Zeitschrift des Institutes für den Donauraum und Mitteleuropa, 3, 2008, pp. 205–22; Mema, op. cit.

¹⁴ Trimçev et al., op.cit.

¹⁵ C. Azzarri and C. Carletto, ‘Modeling migration dynamics in Albania: a hazard function approach’, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 9(4), 2009, pp. 407–33.

¹⁶ World Bank, Urban Growth, Migration and Poverty Reduction. A Poverty Assessment, World Bank Albania Country Office, Tirana, 2007.

¹⁷ K. Barjaba and R. King, ‘Introducing and theorising Albanian migration’, in R. King, N. Mai and S. Schwandner-Sievers (eds), The New Albanian Migration, Sussex Academic Press, Brighton 2005, pp. 1–28.

¹⁸ K. Barjaba, ‘Contemporary patterns in Albanian emigration’, South-East Europe Review, 3(2), 2000, pp. 57–64.

¹⁹ INSTAT, The Population of Albania in 2001. Main Results of the Population and Housing Census, Albanian Institute of Statistics, Tirana, 2002. However, this figure excluded short-term migration of less than one year duration, as well as births to migrants which would have accrued to the census total had these individuals not migrated. See R. King and J. Vullnetari, Migration and Development in Albania, Working Paper C5, Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty, University of Sussex, Brighton, 2003.

²⁰ E. Galanxhi, ‘Albanian emigration 1989–2001’, paper presented to the UNECE/Eurostat Seminar on Migration Statistics, Geneva, 2005.

²¹ World Bank, Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011, World Bank, Washington DC, 2011, p.54.

²² Eurostat, ‘Population of foreign citizens in the EU27 in 2008’, News Release 184, available online at: < http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat>, (accessed May 2010).

²³ K. Barjaba, Albania: Migration and Development. Exiting from Vulnerability in Global Migration System, Discussion Paper, Ministry of Labour, Social Affair and Equal Opportunities, Tirana, 2006; J. Vullnetari, Albanian Migration and Development: State-of-the-Art Review, Working Paper 18, IMISCOE, Amsterdam, 2007; World Bank 2007, op. cit.

²⁴ King and Vullnetari, op. cit.; Barjaba and King, op. cit.; C. Carletto, B. Davis, M. Stampini and A. Zezza, ‘A country on the move: international migration in post-communist Albania’, International Migration Review, 40(4), 2006, pp. 767–85.

²⁵ Gedeshi et al., op. cit.; Mema, op.cit.; Trimçev et al., op. cit.

²⁶ From an industrialized country until 1990, Albania turned into an almost completely de-industrialized one during the transition.

²⁷ Mema, op. cit.; Trimçev et al., op. cit.

²⁸ T. Straubhaar and M. Wolburg, ‘Brain drain and brain exchange in Europe: an evaluation of the East-European migration to Germany’, Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik, 218(6), 1999, pp. 574–605.

²⁹ T. Lianos, A. Petralias and C. Boussoulas, The Impact of Immigration on Greece's Society, Center for Planning and Economic Research (KEPE), Athens, 2004.

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³¹ R. Adams, International Migration, Remittances and the Brain Drain: A Study of 24 Labor-Exporting Countries, Policy Research Working Paper 2972, World Bank, Washington DC, 2003.

³² F. Docquier and A. Marfouk, ‘International migration by educational attainment, 1990–2000’, in Ç. Ozden and M. Schiff (eds), International Migration, Remittances and the Brain Drain, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2006, pp. 151–99.

³³ OECD, Trends in International Migration: SOPEMI – Edition 2004, Paris, 2005.

³⁴ Thus, excluding about 142,100 legal Albanian immigrants residing in Italy by 2000. See for example C. Bonifazi and D. Sabatino, ‘Albanian migration to Italy: what official data and survey results can reveal’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 29(6), 2003, pp. 967–95.

³⁵ For example, UNDP, Albania Human Development Report, UNDP, Tirana, 2000; V. Horvat, ‘Brain drain. Threat to successful transition in South East Europe?’, Southeast European Politics, 5(1), 2004, pp. 76–93; INSTAT, Migration in Albania, Albanian Institute of Statistics, Tirana, 2004; Mema, op. cit.; Tafaj, op. cit.; Trimçev et al., op. cit.; E. Markova, Gaining from Migration: Albania Case Study, University of Sussex, Brighton, 2007; International Organization for Migration (IOM), Migration in Albania: A Country Profile, IOM, Geneva, 2009; IOM, Labor Migration Patterns, Policies and Migration Propensity in the Western Balkans, IOM, Regional Mission for Central and South-Eastern Europe, Budapest, 2009.

³⁶ Gedeshi et al., op. cit.

³⁷ Gedeshi and Black, op. cit.

³⁸ The total number of Albanian scientific workers holding a PhD degree was 2,896 by 1997, see E. Hajdëri, Of Recent Developments in Higher Education in Albania, Ministry of Education and Science, Tirana, 1998.

³⁹ UNESCO-CEPES, ‘Statistics on Higher Education’, available online at: < http://www.cepes.ro>, (accessed May 2010).

⁴⁰ MoES, Annual Statistical Report of Education 2006–2007, Ministry of Education and Science, Tirana, 2009.

⁴¹ Tafaj, op. cit. By assuming that only 20 per cent of the Albanians studying abroad in 2005 would return, Tafaj claims that 4,000–5,000 professionals with university degrees from western countries would come back to Albania. Reversing his calculations, this means that a stock of 20,000–25,000 Albanian students abroad is assumed.

⁴² Trimçev et al., op. cit.

⁴³ J. Chaloff, Albania and Italy Migration Policies and their Development Relevance. A Survey of Innovative and ‘Development-Friendly’ Practices in Albania and Italy, Working Paper 51, Centre for Social and Political Studies (CeSPI), Rome, 2008.

⁴⁴ European Social Watch, ‘Migration in Europe as development actor. Between hope and vulnerability’, available online at: < http://www.socialwatch.eu/wcm/home.html>, (accessed December 2009).

⁴⁵ Gedeshi et al., op. cit.; Mema, op. cit.; Tafaj, op. cit.; Gedeshi and Black, op. cit.

⁴⁶ H. de Soto, P. Gordon, I. Gedeshi and Z. Sinoimeri, Poverty in Albania. A Qualitative Assessment, Technical Paper 520, World Bank, Washington DC, 2002; Trimçev et al., op. cit.; Gedeshi and Black, op. cit.

⁴⁷ Horvat, op. cit.; F. Vadean and M. Piracha, Determinants of Return and Circular Migration in Albania, IZA Working Paper 1758, Institute for Labor Studies, Bonn, 2009, available online at: < www.iza.org/conference_files/SSch2009/vadean_f1758.pdf>, (accessed January 2010); N. Glytsos, ‘Theoretical considerations and empirical evidence on brain drain. Grounding the review of Albania's and Bulgaria's experience’, International Migration, 48(3), 2010, pp. 107–30.

⁴⁸ Straubhaar and Wolburg, op. cit.

⁴⁹ INSTAT, Population and Housing Census, 1989. Principal Results. Population, Family, Housing, Albanian Institute of Statistics, Tirana, 1991.

⁵⁰ INSTAT's database, available on line at: < http://www.instat.gov.al>, (accessed March 2010).

⁵¹ The data on the number of graduates for the years 1992–1996 is not available but we assume that on average 3,000 students graduated annually from Albanian universities during this period. Based on enrollment data for the period 1992–1996 as well as on enrolment and graduation data for the years 1997–2000 (available at INSTAT's database, op. cit.), we judge that such an assumption is not an exaggeration.

⁵² According to their findings, the country's share of skilled population would increase by 0.9 per cent through emigration, see Docquier and Marfouk, op. cit.; Beine et al., op. cit.

⁵³ Ratha, op. cit.

⁵⁴ N. de Zwager, I. Gedeshi, E. Germenji and C. Nikas, Competing for Remittances, IOM, Tirana, 2005; E. Gërmenji, ‘Migration and development: evidence from Albania’, in the First Annual Conference on Albanian Societies and Politics, New York, 9–21 December 2008; UNDP, Human Development Report 2009. Overcoming Barriers: Human Mobility and Development, UNDP, New York, 2009.

⁵⁵ Horvat, op. cit.; Mema, op. cit.

⁵⁶ See E. Gërmenji, Essays on the Economics of Emigration from Albania, PhD Thesis, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, 2006; J. Hagen-Zanker and M. Siegel, The Determinants of Remittances: A Comparison Between Albania and Moldova, Working Paper, Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, Maastricht 2008. The main explanation might be the ‘brain waste’. A significant proportion of skilled Albanians undergo occupational de-skilling when they emigrate (K. Barjaba, Albania: Looking Beyond Borders, Migration Policy Institute, Washington, DC, 2004; Barjaba and King, op. cit.; E. Gërmenji, A. Sarris and J. Swinnen, ‘Does human capital matter? Integration of Albanian immigrants in the Greek labour market’, Marie Curie Conference on Multi-Level Governance of Immigration Flows, Athens, 30 March–3 April 2005; N. Glytsos, ‘Stepping from illegality and advancing towards integration: the case of immigrants in Greece’, International Migration Review, 39(4), 2005, pp. 819–40; Gedeshi and Black, op. cit.), as well as family reunification in the destination countries.

⁵⁷ Gërmenji, 2008, op. cit.

⁵⁸ INSTAT's database, op. cit.

⁵⁹ European Training Foundation, Labour Market Review of Albania, ETF, Torino, 2006; World Bank, 2007, op. cit.

⁶⁰ Carletto et al., op cit.; Gërmenji, 2006, op. cit.

⁶¹ S. Lundström and P. Ronnäs, Migration and Pro-Poor Growth in Albania. An Integrated Economic Analysis, Country Economic Report 5, SIDA, Stockholm, 2006.

⁶² World Bank, 2006, op. cit.

⁶³ There is a concern that the education system in Albania is out of tune with the demands of the economy for skills and professional qualifications, see S. Hatakenaka and Q. Thomson, Higher Education in Albania Report, European Investment Bank, Luxembourg, 2006; Lundström and Ronnäs, op. cit.

⁶⁴ L. Lowell, A. Findlay and E. Stewart, Brain Strain: Optimising Highly Skilled Migration from Developing Countries, Asylum and Migration Working Paper 3, Institute for Public Policy Research, London, 2004.

⁶⁵ D. Kapur and J. McHale, Give Us Your Best and Brightest: The Global Hunt for Talent and its Impact on the Developing World, Center for Global Development, Washington DC, 2005.

⁶⁶ S. Ammassari, Migration and Development: Factoring Return into the Equation, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle, 2009.

⁶⁷ G. Borjas and B. Bratsberg, ‘Who leaves? The outmigration of the foreign-born’, Review of Economics and Statistics, 87(1), 1996, pp. 165–76.

⁶⁸ D. Teferra, Brain circulation: unparalleled opportunities, underlying challenges, and outmoded presumptions, Journal of Studies in International Education, 9(3), 2005, pp. 229–50.

⁶⁹ Gedeshi and Black, op. cit.

⁷⁰ Barjaba, 2000, op. cit.

⁷¹ World Bank, 2007, op cit.

⁷² Azzarri and Carletto, op. cit.

⁷³ Parallel to the positive developments in the tertiary education, an overall downward trend in emigration has been observed, see World Bank, 2007, op. cit. In addition, while during the 1990s Albanian emigrants used to be endowed with higher than average education levels, after 2000 this feature seems to have been reversed; a larger number of less educated (and older) individuals has emigrated, see Azzarri and Carletto, op. cit.; Vadean and Piracha, op. cit.

⁷⁴ E. Ngjela, ‘Albania: mobilizing highly skilled diaspora’, World Bank ABCDE-Conference, Tirana, 9–11 June 2008.