Difference between revisions of "Loteria (Albania)"

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The scheme originated in communist Albania. Although no written reference to the scheme exists that allows the start of the practice to be located chronologically, it is possible to place the practice in the 1970s, as this the period to which most informants refer and was also the period when many of the industrial complexes and large factories started operating in Albania (Kovacs et al 2016)<ref>Kovacs, B., Morris, J., Polese, A., and Imami, D. 2016. ‘Looking at the ‘sharing’ economies concept through the prism of informality’, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society (in press)</ref>.

The scheme originated in communist Albania. Although no written reference to the scheme exists that allows the start of the practice to be located chronologically, it is possible to place the practice in the 1970s, as this the period to which most informants refer and was also the period when many of the industrial complexes and large factories started operating in Albania (Kovacs et al 2016)<ref>Kovacs, B., Morris, J., Polese, A., and Imami, D. 2016. ‘Looking at the ‘sharing’ economies concept through the prism of informality’, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society (in press)</ref>.

The lottery scheme was conceived as a solution to several issues. Firstly, the lack of private banks and the scarcity of loans from state banks made it difficult to borrow large sums of money. This situation was exacerbated by the fact that savings deposits in the state banks were poorly rewarded with low annual interest rates of 1-2 per cent. Secondly, average salaries were low: in agriculture cooperatives, earnings were in the region of 150 - 250 Albanian Lek (ALL) a month; factory workers could earn 400 – 500 ALL a month, while teachers, professors, and engineers were paid a monthly salary of 700 – 900 ALL. (For comparison purposes, at that time the price of a large loaf of bread was around 5 ALL and a kilo of meat cost 15 ALL; one US dollar was converted at 8 ALL in the late 1980s). It is interesting to note that these sums did not change substantially during the last two decades of communism (1970-1990), thanks to government measures to control inflation.

The lottery scheme was conceived as a solution to several issues. Firstly, the lack of private banks and the scarcity of loans from state banks made it difficult to borrow large sums of money. This situation was exacerbated by the fact that savings deposits in the state banks were poorly rewarded with low annual interest rates of 1-2 per cent. Secondly, average salaries were low: in agriculture cooperatives, earnings were in the region of 150 - 250 Albanian Lek (ALL) a month; factory workers could earn 400 – 500 ALL a month, while teachers, professors, and engineers were paid a monthly salary of 700 – 900 ALL. (For comparison purposes, at that time the price of a large loaf of bread was around 5 ALL and a kilo of meat cost 15 ALL; one US dollar was converted at 8 ALL in the late 1980s). It is interesting to note that these sums did not change substantially during the last two decades of communism (1970-1990), thanks to government measures to control inflation.