Types of return
Cerase (1974) studied returnees from the US to southern Italy and distinguished return of failure, of conservatism, of retirement and of innovation, noting gaps between expectations and reality.
Competing theories
Cassarino (2004) contrasted neoclassical views of return as failure with the new economics of labor migration, which sees planned success. Constant and Massey (2002) found support for both, Dustmann and Weiss (2007) modelled planned return, and transnational views stress ongoing ties.
Selection and development
Borjas and Bratsberg (1996) analysed who returns. Wahba (2015) found returnees boost entrepreneurship and wages, turning brain drain into circulation. Dustmann and Görlach (2016) review temporary migration.
FAQ
- What is return migration in simple terms?
- Migrants moving back to their home country.
- Does return mean failure?
- Sometimes, but many return as planned after meeting savings goals.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26
References
- Cerase, F. P. (1974). Expectations and reality: A case study of return migration from the United States to Southern Italy. International Migration Review, 8(2), 245–262. A classic typology of returnees.
- Cassarino, J.-P. (2004). Theorising return migration: The conceptual approach to return migrants revisited. International Journal on Multicultural Societies, 6(2), 253–279. Compares theories of return.
- Borjas, G. J., & Bratsberg, B. (1996). Who leaves? The outmigration of the foreign-born. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 78(1), 165–176. Selection in return migration.
- Constant, A., & Massey, D. S. (2002). Return migration by German guestworkers: Neoclassical versus new economic theories. International Migration, 40(4), 5–38. Tests competing theories.
- Dustmann, C., & Weiss, Y. (2007). Return migration: Theory and empirical evidence from the UK. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 45(2), 236–256. Return as a planned choice.
- Dustmann, C., & Görlach, J.-S. (2016). The economics of temporary migrations. Journal of Economic Literature, 54(1), 98–136. Review of temporary migration.
- Wahba, J. (2015). Selection, selection, selection: The impact of return migration. Journal of Population Economics, 28(3), 535–563. Impacts on origin countries.