The vanishing farms? The impact of international migration on Albanian family farming

Type Working Paper - World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 4367
Title The vanishing farms? The impact of international migration on Albanian family farming
Author(s)
Issue 4367
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2007
URL http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2007/09/24/000158349_20070924103913/Re​ndered/PDF/WPS4367.pdf
Abstract
This paper investigates the impact of international migration on technical efficiency, resource allocation and income from agricultural production of family farming in Albania. The results suggest that migration is used by rural households as a pathway out of agriculture: migration is negatively associated with the allocation of both labor and non-labor inputs in agriculture, while no significant differences can be detected in terms of farm technical efficiency or agricultural income. Whether the rapid demographic changes in rural areas triggered by massive migration, possibly combined with propitious land and rural development policies, will ultimately produce the conditions for more viable, high-return agriculture attracting larger investments remains to be seen.

Related studies

»