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The process of transition in the Balkan economies was accompanied by large-scale emigration. The employment of a considerable part of their labour force abroad was accompanied by a massive inflow of remittances. Remittances are considered the basic gain of migration for the emigration countries and their main compensation for losing (temporarily or more permanently) a part of their labour force. Whether remittances contribute to the economic development of the country receiving them depends on how they are used, that is, what activities they finance. Their exclusive use for consumption and imports, for example, is considered less development-stimulating than financing productive investment. This article investigates the impact of remittances on three basic macroeconomic variables, namely consumption, investment and imports, for three transition Balkan economies: Romania, Bulgaria and Albania. The main new element of the analysis is the use of econometric investigation on the basis of time series analysis, since emigration from these countries only started less than 20 years ago.

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