Dissatisfied, feeling unequal and inclined to emigrate: Perceptions from Macedonia in a MIMIC model

Abstract

Macedonia has a large diaspora, a high emigration rate and receives larger volume of remittances. This paper aims to describe the current inclination to emigrate from Macedonia, in the light of the dissatisfaction with the domestic political and economic environment and the potential feeling of gender and ethnic inequalities. Particular reference is made to the role of remittances. We use the Remittances Survey 2008 and treat dissatisfaction, feeling of inequality and inclination to emigrate as latent continuous variables in a MIMIC (Multiple-Indicator Multiple-Cause) model, observed only imperfectly in terms of respondents’ perceptions and opinions. Results suggest that dissatisfaction with the societal conditions in Macedonia grows among those who are at their 20s and early 30s, which is more prevalent among ethnic Albanians. Compared to others, Albanians also demonstrate stronger feeling of gender and ethnic inequality. Dissatisfaction, but not the feeling of inequality, then feeds inclination to emigrate. Further to this, however, males and less educated persons are more inclined to emigrate, irrespective of their level of dissatisfaction. We find remittances to play a strong role for the inclination to emigrate: the inclination is larger in households receiving remittances and increases with the amount received, as it is likely that remittances alleviate financial constraints for other persons of the household to emigrate.