around the dominant ethnic groups. There was a substantial volume of refugees and IDPs (internally displaced persons) (World Bank 2007:34, 39).

There was also a large volume of emigration as people left for other countries in search of employment. Emigration to other countries was especially high in the first years following the dissolution (Duthe et al 2010: Figure 1). Between 1989 and 1999, estimated net migration as a percentage of the population indicates a population loss of around 17% in Georgia, 15% in Armenia, and 3% in Azerbaijan (World Bank 2007: Figure 1.4). In 2004, estimated remittances as a percentage of GDP were over 10% in Armenia, about 7% in Georgia, and about 3% in Azerbaijan (World Bank 2007: 59). Some people seem to have coped with the shocks by depending on the farm, as indicated by the plateauing and slight reversal in urbanization in the region after 1990 (Table 2) .

Other major disruptions accompanied and followed the dissolution of the USSR and the establishment of the newly-independent states in the South Caucasus. Conflicts were especially protracted in Georgia, but Armenia and Azerbaijan also experienced territorial conflict.

The combination of large volumes of emigration in search of work, internal displacement for ethnic adjustments, and territorial conflicts exacerbated the effects of the other disruptions following the dissolution of the USSR.

Fertility declined sharply in the early 1990s, as might be expected as households seek to cut down on expenses at times of economic crisis. The UN (2013) estimates indicate that fertility declined from the 1960s across the CIS --- and especially sharply where fertility was high at the outset such as Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the Central Asian Republics (Figure 6). There was some plateauing in fertility rates during the 1980s, followed by another sharp decline in the early 1990s — following the dissolution of the USSR.<sup>11</sup> Interestingly, while all the CIS countries experienced major economic and administrative disruptions with the dissolution of the USSR, only the countries in the South Caucasus region show rising levels of sex-selection in response to these crises (Figure 7). This would suggest that in the other CIS countries the male line is not the primary source of economic and other cooperation and support in times of need, to be resorted to as a fallback when formal institutions fall apart.<sup>12</sup> The institutions of governance of the Soviet Union also collapsed. The new states slowly put in place new institutions of governance and service delivery to replace those of the Soviet Union. However, basic institutions of governance seem to have been slower to develop in ways that inspire confidence (Sammut 2013).

The Caucasus Barometer 2010 survey indicates quite pervasive breakdown of trust in key institutions (Figure 8). Only around 15% of respondents in the three countries reported that they “completely agreed” that their country was governed by the rule of law. The percentages who “fully trust” the police were also very low in Armenia and Azerbaijan. It was far higher in Georgia, following radical police reforms in the mid-2000s (Kakachia and O’Shea 2012). Levels of trust in these institutions were lowest in Armenia. However, we do not have access to 7