Over the period 2019-21, Albania had to confront dual shocks: the 2019 earthquake and the COVID-19 pandemic. Both had sizable impacts on the country's economy. The COVID-19 pandemic took a heavy toll on an economy already affected by the earthquake in 2019. Key sectors were put in lockdown in...

This report briefly introduces international remittance flows and their role in the global development agenda. The following chapters describe the work of the WB on financial inclusion and international remittances in Albania, with an emphasis on Project Greenback, and it outlines the local...

Albania is gradually emerging from the unprecedented economic disruptions caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. As the pandemic is overcome, it is crucial to shift attention back to Albania's long-term objective of building a stronger underlying economic growth model. This...

This background note is one of several analytical contributions to the 2021 Albania country economic memorandum (CEM). The CEM is a World Bank flagship report that aims to help Albania identify next steps in its structural reform agenda. As set out in the CEM, Albania needs to refocus attention...

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the changes that Albanian cultural dimensions’ scores have undergone over time. Hofstede’s Value Survey Module 2013 (VSM 2013) has been applied to examine the six dimensions of culture; power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty...

Estimating the impact of risk aversion on emigration at the individual level is complicated by selection issues. In this paper, we use original data from Albania on mobility intentions and elicited risk aversion to provide causal estimates on this relationship. Our identification strategy relies...