Essays on Economic and Social aspects of emigration: Evidence from Kyrgyzstan

This dissertation investigates - from an empirical perspective - two social implications of emigration in the migrant countries of origin: (1) whether emigration contributes to changes in gender norms; (2) whether emigration contributes to alcohol consumption. In fact, the empirical evidence produced in this analysis confirms the presence of these two channels, suggesting that emigration affects negatively the development of the origin country. A discussion on the persistence of the phenomenon requires to explore its causes, since they may be related to either structural or short-term reasons. A crucial element in this regard is represented by the weakness of the labour market. On the one hand, the lack of vacancies enhances the incentive of people to migrate; on the other hand, informal jobs usually entail low social protection - due to unregular payments and the absence of an health insurance - and may push workers to leave the country and search for better working conditions, especially when the likelihood to find a formal job is very low. The third chapter offers a discussion on these issues, while a direct exploration of the relationship between international migration and emplotment condition is the purpose of future researches.