The impact of the EAEU common labor market on the well-being of households of migrants: The case of Armenia

We study the impact of migration policy liberalization under the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) on the welfare of households in sending country-members. We use the example of the Republic of Armenia. The Integrated Survey of the Living Standards of Households in Armenia for 2013–2017 is the informational basis of the study. Using the difference-in-differences approach, we identify a statistically significant causal relationship between joining the EAEU and the well-being of households. Armenia’s accession to the EAEU in 2015 made it possible to reduce the risk of poverty of labor migrant households by 2.5 percentage points, and the risk of acute poverty by 4.5 percentage points. The results prompt for further harmonization of the labor migration legislation of the participating countries, and the formation and mutual offset of pension rights of labor migrants within the EAEU in particular.