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

Macedonia has a large diaspora, high emigration rate and large amount of remittances received. The objective of this paper is 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. The Remittances Survey 2008 is used, while dissatisfaction, feeling unequal and inclination to emigrate are treated as latent continuous variables in a MIMIC (Multiple-Indicator Multiple-Cause) model, observed only imperfectly in terms of respondents’ perceptions and opinions. Results robustly suggest that dissatisfaction with the societal conditions in Macedonia grows in the twenties and early thirties of people’s life and is more prevalent among ethnic Albanians. Albanians also demonstrate stronger feeling of gender and ethnic inequality. Dissatisfaction, but not the feeling on 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. Remittances were found to play a strong role for the inclination to emigrate: 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.