Migration and development in transition economies of Southeastern Europe

This paper introduces an issue of Eastern European Economics on migration in Kosovo and Albania. It consists of four main parts. In the first two, we sketch the background to the large-scale emigration flows: from Kosovo since the 1960s, and from Albania since 1990. We also note the equally large-scale internal migration within Albania since 1990. Next, we highlight the key findings of the three papers that compose this special issue, noting how they both support and challenge conventional wisdom on the economic rationales for migration. Finally, we make some general and speculative observations about current and future migration trends in the Kosovo-Albania region