Albania provides a small amount of social assistance to nearly 20% of its population through a system which allows a degree of community discretion in determining distribution. This study investigates the poverty targeting of this program. It indicates that relative to other safety net programs in low income countries, social assistance in Albania is fairly well targeted to the poor.

The main focus of this paper is to assess household welfare in Albania, describe the labor market, and evaluate the equity and efficiency of public expenditures on cash benefits and education. This report provides a benchmark against which future welfare developments of the population can be measured. It also includes a statistical annex.

This paper reviews the developments in the social safety net system of Albania since the beginning of its economic adjustment program in mid-1992 through the third quarter of 1995. It shows that the social safety net system was quickly reformed, and that this allowed Albanian authorities to support the most needy groups of the population with income transfers. Notwithstanding the low administrative costs, the social safety net system is not financially sustainable. Expenditures are not balanced with revenues, and the gap cannot be closed in the short-run. Poor targeting of the benefits and administrative loopholes spur expenditures. Revenue growth is hindered by low compliance with the social security contributions. The paper concludes with some suggestions for addressing this issues.

This paper examines developments in Albania’s income distribution and poverty during the transition to a market-oriented economy. It pays particular attention to the impact of price liberalization on the agricultural terms of trade and production, the decline in state enterprise employment, emigrant remittances, and social safety nets. Income and consumption data produce conflicting results. Based on income data, including average presumptive agricultural incomes and state sector wages, there is a significant rise in real income in rural areas and a decline in real income in urban areas. Based on food consumption data, however, a large decline in urban real incomes is implausible. Poverty in both the urban and the rural population was mitigated by the presence of formal social safety nets, as well as informal arrangements in the form of emigrant remittances.

As Albania is accelerating its preparations towards candidate country status in the European Union (EU), numerous areas of public policy and –practices are undergoing intensive development. Regional development policy is a very new area of public policy in Albania and needs research and development. This study examines the process of sustainable development in Albania by analysing and comparing the regional development of the regions Tirana, Shkodra and Kukes. With regards to methodology the study relies on a review of literature as well as an analytical review of and a comparative approach to the three case regions, ensuring adequate quality through interviews and quantitative relevance through data collection. The research is organised in five chapters. The first chapter provides an overview over the research. The second chapter outlines the theories and scientific framework underlying the sustainable–development-to-regional-development process and its links to geography. The third chapter presents the overall picture of the regional development efforts in Albania, analysing disparities and regional development in the light of EU requirements and NUTS division. Chapter 4 continues this discourse by highlighting the regional development of the three regions: Tirana (driver for change), Shkodra (the North in development) and Kukes (the “shrinking” region). Conclusions and recommendations are presented in chapter 5. This research comes to the conclusions that if growth in Albania is to be increased and sustained, a regional development policy needs to be established.

Social Policy and International Interventions in South East Europe proves a comprehensive, dense, and thought provoking read, particularly successful in framing both the historical and institutional contexts of the countries examined, as well as literary debates on the subject and is thus a precious resource. . . Irene Dioli, Journal of Southeastern Europe The questions broached by the volume are of interest to all who are concerned with development and politics. Experts will find the data and is presentation quite useful; others will benefit from the background information presented in each chapter. . . . Social Policy and International Interventions in South East Europe is an excellent addition to the academic literature and will serve all those who are trying to keep pace with fluid developments in the transitional states of south east Europe. Richard P. Farkas, Slavic Review This is a remarkably rich and thought-provoking collection. Its substantial case studies make it a vital resource for studying social policy in South East Europe. Its focus on the flows of international actors, agencies, ideas and resources poses critical questions about how the emergence of social policy, the emergence of new forms of governance and the creation of new spaces of welfare are connected. The implications of this concern with emergent forms and directions reach far beyond the region itself. John Clarke, The Open University, UK A brilliant book that shows conclusively that transnational actors have taken their place alongside states in setting social policy in Europe. Through careful and comprehensive case studies of a wide range of South East European countries, this volume systematically presents a wealth of new data on transnational actor interventions. It helps to shape an emerging debate on the relative power of transnational and domestic actors and makes a unique empirical contribution to the discussion. The authors have done an amazing job of coordinated digging and produced some impressive results. Mitchell Orenstein, Johns Hopkins University, US This comprehensive and engaging book investigates the role of international actors in the making of social policy in South East Europe. Introductory chapters on transnationalism and Europeanization are followed by a series of nine linked case studies depicting research undertaken within this region. The book charts the variable influence that international actors such as formal organizations, non-governmental organizations, consulting companies and individual transnational policy entrepreneurs have on key policy issues, including pensions, social protection, labour markets and health. The authors conclude that welfare settlements are a complex product of historical and institutional legacies, the neo-liberal interventions of the World Bank, the emerging impact of the EU, and the crowded international arena resulting from war and post-war reconstruction agendas. Written by leading researchers in the field, Social Policy and International Interventions in South East Europe will be of great interest to researchers and students of social policy, policy studies and regional studies, as well as policymakers within international and governmental organizations.

During Albania's transition from a centralized economy to one anchored in a body of Western laws, deep social unrest, widespread poverty, uncontrolled migration, and the reemergence of clan-based loyalties have led to an increase in the most vulnerable population groups. These groups are more likely to be marginalized by the economic cycle, thus making it more difficult to ensure asuccessful transition. One purpose of the study is to identify key emerging social issues and problems in Albania and determine their causes. However, the main purpose of this report is to propose a short- to medium-term action strategy to guide and connect social policy and assistance initiatives targeted to the vulnerable groups in areas where they are most numerous, through a bottom-up approach.

This study reviews the role and workings, with their strengths and weaknesses of last-resort income support (LRIS) programs in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It draws on a combination of household survey and administrative data for a large group of countries and detailed case studies for a smaller number of countries that span the spectrum of the income range in the region. It thus combines the value of wide, comparable multi-country work with that of in-depth, country-specific probing on key themes. The experiences of LRIS programs in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have demonstrated the technical feasibility of highly efficient poverty-targeted programs in the region. The detailed case studies suggest how programs can improve their coverage, control error and fraud and be implemented effectively in decentralized settings. This experience is pertinent to other regions as well, adding to the know-how for poverty targeting programs in middle and low income countries. Perhaps especially importantly, the book shows that means testing can be accomplished in settings with sizeable informal sectors and at reasonable administrative costs. The study also suggests that currently the role of last resort income support programs within the overall social protection systems of the region is often too small and that their eligibility thresholds should be revised and indexed, so that the programs continue to serve a meaningful swath of the low income households in each country. Moreover the programs can be used as the nexus to weave together a variety of income supports and services for low income households.

​This book maps the latest developments in the policy relevant analysis on poverty, inclusion and the social agenda in the Western Balkans. It does so by presenting a selection of recent papers which explore from a methodological and analytical point of view how the inclusion agenda can be monitored and adapted to understand the challenges in the region. The volume includes an overview and four sections, covering respectively: (1) innovations in terms of measurement of poverty and inclusion in the region (the concept of inclusion as elaborated at the EU level, innovations in survey design to suit the measurement of inclusion, methodological insights from qualitative work); (2) innovative country level analysis (updating poverty mapping in inter-censual years, the analysis of material deprivation, the analysis of determinants of social inclusion, subjective wellbeing of public work programs participants); (3) examples of country level analysis of drivers of exclusion (barriers to formalization in the labour market, gender disparities in the labour market, disruption in social networks following urbanizations, attitudes towards multi-ethnic states); (4) building inclusive safety nets (an assessment of safety nets in the region, the political economy of welfare reform, micro-simulations of social assistance reform, the adoption of better tools to improve targeting performance). The chapters combine sophisticated techniques which are at the frontiers of poverty analysis (small area estimation, efficiency analysis applied to household welfare, micro-simulations) with less ground-breaking papers which take advantage of innovative datasets or perspectives deeply grounded in the policy dialogue in the countries of the region. By providing a wide spectrum of innovative and policy relevant analytical contributions this book will be of broader interest than for observers of the region. ​

The allocation of resources and the design of policies tailored to local-level conditions require highly disaggregated information. Data on poverty at the local level is typically not available because most household surveys are not representative past the regional level. This volume aims to promote the effective use of Small Area Estimation poverty maps in policy making. It presents the range of policies and interventions which have been informed by poverty maps, focusing on the political economy of poverty maps and the key elements to their effective use by policy makers. The volume also looks at the future of poverty maps in terms of new techniques and new areas of application.