Education, migration, and labor markets in Albania: A gender perspective

The three essays in this dissertation attempt to shed some light on education and wages by gender influenced by the massive international migration, weakening of the educational system, and the labor market. The three essays focus on the impact of international migration on school enrollment and educational expenditures, the gender differences in educational expenditures in Albania, and wage discrimination in the labor market.;The first essay estimates the effects of international migration on education, conducting a separate gender and regional analysis. It examines the role of international migration on school enrolments, educational attainment, and household's educational expenditures for individuals between the ages of 6 and 22. The analysis uses the 2005 Albanian Living Standard Measurement Study survey to examine the impact of migration on education across regions, gender, and age-groups. Across specifications, findings suggest an overall negative impact of migration on education in Albania, with larger negative impacts for the rural areas and females.;The second essay shows the presence or lack thereof of gender differences in educational expenditure in Albania for school age individuals between the ages 6-22. In accordance with previous studies, the results indicate that the main mechanism through which gender differences against girls appears is through non-enrollment. As expected, gender differences against girls appear stronger for secondary education and rural areas.;The third essay draws on the literature and methodology of wage decomposition to estimates the gender wage gap and the different sources that account for such disparity. The majority of the wage gender gap is accounted for by the different rewards provided in the labour market for the two sexes. The different rewards provided by the labour market together with the pure rent of being male, reduce women's wages and put them at a more disadvantageous position. Not surprisingly, this difference, both in terms of pay and pure discrimination is much more worrisome in rural areas, showing yet another aspect of rural life that deserves special consideration. The main implication of the decomposition results, remaining robust to the different methodologies, is that education, occupational segregation, and child care are key sources of the gender wage-gap.