Response paper to the research report “The effects of labour migration on the demo-economic development of Georgia in the post-Soviet period”

Abstract

This paper examines the findings of Tukhashvili and Shelia (2012), which is largely an overview of emigration processes in post-Soviet Georgia presented from a demographic and economic perspective. In their paper, the authors attempt to outline the impact of labour emigration in recent times. However, it seems to generalise trends over the last two decades in a questionable way. Therefore, this paper will discuss findings made by Tukhashvili and Shelia (2012), as well as identifying a few questions for further research. The paper focuses on the following issues: The effects of labour migration on demographics; Labour emigration and its effects on skill development and the Georgian labour market; The impact of emigration and remittances on the economy.