Selected for support under the PEP initiative for "Policy Analysis on Growth and Employment" (PAGE), in 2013, this project was led by a team of local researchers in Macedonia, who sought to explore whether remittances may be used to support the entrepreneurial activities of unemployed youth living in recipient households. Results from their analysis show, among other things, that youth living in households receiving remittances have 28% to 33% higher probability to establish their own business, than the non-youth non-receiving counterparts. This initiative emerges from two main observations: while low job creation and the persistently high youth unemployment rate (around 55%) are some of the most important socioeconomic problems in Macedonia, remittance inflows represent, in average, about 4% of the country's GDP - the usage made of these remittances by recipient households remain, however, largely unknown. Find out all about the research methods and findings through the following PEP publications:
