| Abstract: |
The fall of socialism in Central and Eastern Europe restored ordinary
citizens’ rights and freedoms and ended their political and social isolation.
While the freedom of movement was quickly embraced, civil society revival
lagged due to the eroded civic norms, declining social capital, and worsening
economic conditions. In this paper, we examine the link between the
out-migration of relatives and friends and the pro-social behavior of the left
behinds in two post-socialist countries—Bulgaria and Romania—the EU’s poorest,
unhappiest, and among the most corrupt members. We show that having close
contacts abroad is consistently positively associated with civic engagement
and that the cultural transmission of norms from abroad could be driving the
results. Specifically, the strength of the civic engagement culture of the
family or friend’s destination matters for the pro-social behavior of
respondents in the home countries. Our results imply that the emigration of
family and friends may have positive but previously undocumented consequences
for the individuals and communities left behind in Bulgaria and Romania. Given
civil society’s role for development in post-socialist Europe and the
socio-economic and institutional challenges that Bulgaria and Romania face
compared with the rest of the EU, understanding the channels fostering civil
society and well-being are important for national and EU policymakers. |