Basic relationships between human capital, migration and labour markets in the Western Balkans: An econometric investigation
| Published date | 01 February 2023 |
| Author | Isilda Mara,Michael Landesmann |
| Date | 01 February 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.13025 |
184
|
International Migration. 2023;61:184–204.
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/imig
MOTIVATION
Outward mobility f rom the Western Balkan countries is one of the highe st in Europe. The total stock of migrants
from th e Western B alkan (WB) region is estimated at close to 4.6 million as of 2019 (see Figure1). Emigration
from the WB with respect to it s population is very high and has been persisting over time . The main destinations
are European countries— particularly EU151 (Germany, Austria, Franc e, Sweden, Italy, UK or Greece)— which have
attracte d more tha n 75 per cent of mig rants from the WB region, (see World Bank and wiiw, 2018, p.43), (see
Mara et al., 2022).
Received: 11 Augus t 2020
|
Revised: 21 March 202 2
|
Accepted: 24 April 20 22
DOI: 10.1111/imig.13025
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Basic relationships between human capital,
migration and labour markets in the Western
Balkans: An econometric investigation
Isilda Mara1| Michael Landesmann2
© 2022 The Auth ors. Internation al Migration © 2022 IO M.
The study be nefited from t he financial su pport provid ed by the BLINDED F OR REVIEW.
1The Vienna Ins titute for Internat ional
Economic Studi es, Vienna, Aus tria
2Johannes Kep ler University Li nz, Vienna,
Austria
Correspondence
Isilda Mara, T he Vienna Instit ute for
Internation al Economic Studies , Rahlgasse
52/2, 1060 Vienna , Austria
Email: mara@wiiw.ac.at
Funding information
European Trainin g Foundation, Gra nt/
Award Number : Research projec t ‘Migration
and Human Cap ital in the Western B alkans’
Abstract
The high outward mobilit y that characterises the countries
in the Western Balkan region— already for three decades— is
often seen a s tightly linked to labour market imbalances
and persistently low utilis ation of human capital over time.
To shed light on these i ssues we analysed the ef fects of la-
bour market determinants an d human capit al endowment
on migration and vice versa by estim ating simultaneously a
system of equations that accounte d for such relations hips
in the contex t of WB countries. The period under analysis
is 2007– 2019 and the destination co untries are the EU15.
The empirical result s confirm the importance of wage gaps
and their changes as an impor tant pull factor for drivin g
emigration. I n addition, gaps in human capital emer ge as a
powerful deter minant for explaining emigrat ion into coun-
tries where retur ns to human capital are relatively high er.
|
185
BASIC REL ATIONSHIPS BET WEEN HUMAN CA PITAL, MIGRATIO N AND
LABOUR MA RKETS IN THE WE STERN BALK ANS: AN ECONOMET RIC
INVESTIGATION
Stuck in an e conomic and politic al transition for three decades t he countries in the region are lagging behind
other countries in Central- Eastern Europe (CEE). Over this perio d, gaps in terms of earnings , employment and
human capital have re mained high with respect to other Eur opean countries. As such the cat ching up process and
convergence with the economies of the European Union has been protracted. New jobs have emerged, but their
number has been insufficient to overcome high unemployment rates which are especially high among the young.
Many of the new jobs we re in the form of se lf- emp loyme nt most ly in pr ecari ous for ms of emp loym ent— or co ncen-
trated in those secto rs of the economy that are labour- intensive, do not require high levels of educ ation and often
offer salarie s at the minimum mandatory w age level (see World Bank and wiiw, 2018, p. 5). An exception is t he IT
sector that is de veloping well in a number of WB cou ntries (see Mara et al., 2022) .
A s pecific f eature of the labour market is the high level of ‘labour underutilisation’ while human capital—
proxied by average years of s chooling— has been rising, (s ee Figure2). L abour underu tilisation is often use d as
a prox y for ind icating the capability of a cou ntry to utilise human capital.2 Consequently, a high rate of lab our
underutilisation, low levels of ear nings and rising educational attainment l evels (human capital) in the region sug-
gest that push facto rs to move abroad in search for better work, earn ings and life prospects contin ue to be strong
(Mara, 2019). Employ ability of emig rants in des tination countries is relatively higher than at home, though most
of the jobs fall into the group of medium and low skilled occupations, see World Bank and wiiw,2018, p.49), (see
Mara et al., 2022).
The migration- economic development nexus is quite intensively researched but still inconclusive. The ques-
tion of whether migratio n is simply the outcome of the malfunct ioning of the economies and social and institu-
tional s tructures of the count ries in t he region and/or whether it in tur n is an important factor contr ibuting to
worsening economic prospects remains a vital res earch topi c for the r egion that needs further investigatio n.
Certainl y, one appropriate approach is to look at the dyna mics, at causal interrelat ionships and investigate the set
of determi nants that m ay be part of a vicio us circle, whe re migration may initially be result of a malfuncti oning
economy, but then also b ecomes a significant fa ctor regarding its fur ther development.
Following from this, the purp ose of this study is to bring together some of the principal factors that affe ct eco-
nomic develo pment in the WB r egion: human capit al, migration and labour market fu nctioning in an i nterrelated
FIGURE 1Stock of migrants abro ad, country of birth . Source: United Nations, De partment of Economic and
Social Affai rs, population divisio n (2019).
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting