Exit or Voice? The Recent Drivers of Kosovar Out‐migration

Abstract

A remarkable out‐migration from Kosovo occurred after the winter 2014/15, raising urgent questions about its underlying drivers and implications for both Kosovo and the destination countries. This article aims at providing a better understanding of key migration triggers and some particularities of the phenomenon. We link our empirically found migration drivers to Hirschman's () famous exit, voice or loyalty scheme by asking in how far the exit must be understood as the explicit alternative to voicing dissatisfaction with the current situation in the country. According to our results, the recent Kosovar out‐migration is a clear response to weak governance and thus goes beyond the widespread ‘migration‐cum‐remittances’ livelihood practice. In this sense it could be interpreted as a revolt against the political system. With view to policy implications for destination countries, we point at legal travel and migration opportunities as the better solution to channel both voice and exit.

Conditional Loyalty and Exit

“…These observations confirm the findings of earlier research on migration patterns from authoritarian to democratic nations, according to which people migrate as a result of dissatisfaction with poor governance (Colomer, 2000;Fleck and Hanssen, 2013;Möllers et al, 2017). Western democracies may offer a safety net against political and economic crises, in contrast to the challenges in authoritarian countries that foster chronic insecurity among citizens, economically and politically (Harpaz, 2015).…”

Impact of returnee entrepreneurs’ education and knowledge transfer on business development: moderating effect of time living abroad

“…Returnee entrepreneurs, according to the widespread view, have a substantial influence on their home countries' innovation capacity by sharing sophisticated technical knowledge and business practices from developed (host) countries (Yi et al, 2021). Returnee entrepreneurs are valued because they can bring back breakthrough technology that is scarce in their native country (Williams, 2018) and bring different viewpoints on societal norms and gender roles (Möllers et al, 2017a(Möllers et al, , 2017b. Emotions drive entrepreneurs' decisions, both trait and state emotions, which influence how people interpret information and act (Welpe et al, 2012).…”

“…These persons are also more linguistically literate and globally minded which makes it easier for them to work independently for multinational corporations. This gives a significant advantage over the local competitors (Telov, 2020;Möllers et al, 2017aMöllers et al, , 2017b.…”

“…Emigration has always been a prominent element of Kosovar society, mainly as a consequence of the political and economic factors the country has encountered through the years. The recent migration from Kosovo is mostly related to dissatisfaction with the political landscape and financial difficulty (Möllers et al, 2017a(Möllers et al, , 2017b. The Kosovo Agency of Statistics estimates that around 703,978 people in Kosovo were born outside of the country between 1969 and 2011, making up roughly one-third of the country's total population (KAS, 2014).…”