摘要：The emigration of Yugoslav workers, who leave their country to take up temporary employment abroad, has surprised by its high rate and intensity. Starting only in recent times, it has grown to unexpected proportions. Failure to control it may have unsuspected consequences. It is not even possible to determine with any precision the actual number of Yugoslav workers employed abroad. According to official figures, some 650,000 Yugoslav workers were employed in foreign countries at the end of 1970; about 500,000 of them come from rural communities and were previously concerned with farming. s It is not yet possible to obtain a clear picture of the effects this massive exodus of labour may have on Yugoslavia's economy in general, and on her rural areas and agriculture in particular. However, certain effects are already noticeable: the workers’ skills, working habits and attitude to work appear to be undergoing a change. In rural areas, the first major visible consequences are those arising from Yugoslav emigrants’ investments in house construction. Most of the — often considerable — savings of Yugoslav workers employed abroad are invested in the construction of new houses, though often without adequate economic considerations, because subjective feelings (social prestige within the community, etc.) tend to be decisive. Investment in agriculture and other industries is very limited, primarily because of the uncertain position of private farmers and the still unsettled questions of private investment and private enterprise in Yugoslavia. The adverse consequences of the unsettled status of Yugoslav workers temporarily employed abroad are manifold: a large proportion of the savings are invested or kept abroad; workers tend to prolong their stay abroad; investment in housebuilding fails to take account of economic considerations; etc., — all of which affects the country’s economy, especially its agriculture and rural areas from where almost 75% of the Yugoslav emigrant workers derive.
