Since the early 1990s, at least 600,000 Albanians have availed themselves of
the option of temporarily or permanently emigrating. Although there is no
denying that the consequences of large-scale emigration and the related return
flow of money do have an impact on Albanian society, the question is,
how? Drawing on the returns to a survey conducted in a border district in
south-eastern Albania in late 2002, including a sample of 1,315 households,
this paper assesses some of the basic features of remittances – recipients,
channels, frequency, forms and use – in a society that has recently become a
source of substantial flows of out-migration.
