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Welcome home in a crisis: Effects of return migration on the non-migrants' wages and employment

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  • Hausmann, Ricardo
  • Nedelkoska, Ljubica

Abstract

The recent economic depression in Greece hit the population of Albanian migrants in Greece particularly hard, spurring a wave of return migration that increased the Albanian labor force by 5% in less than four years, between 2011 and 2014. We study how this return migration affected the employment chances and earnings of Albanians who never migrated. We find positive effects on the wages of low-skilled non-migrants and overall positive effects on employment. The gains partially offset the sharp drop in remittances in the observed period. An important part of the employment gains are concentrated in the agricultural sector, where most return migrants engage in self-employment and entrepreneurship. Businesses run by return migrants seem to pull Albanians from non-participation, unemployment and subsistence agriculture into commercial agriculture.

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  • Hausmann, Ricardo & Nedelkoska, Ljubica, 2018. "Welcome home in a crisis: Effects of return migration on the non-migrants' wages and employment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 101-132.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:101:y:2018:i:c:p:101-132
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2017.10.003
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    3. Gislain S. GANDJON FANKEM & Dieudonné TAKA & Sévérin TAMWO, 2023. "The effect of skills acquired abroad by return migrants on social relations and quality of life in Cameroon," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 23/011, African Governance and Development Institute..
    4. Roupakias, Stelios, 2023. "Immigrant Assimilation in the Greek Labor Market," MPRA Paper 118351, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Nick Williams & Adnan Efendic, 2019. "Internal displacement and external migration in a post-conflict economy: Perceptions of institutions among migrant entrepreneurs," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 558-585, December.
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    7. Wassink, Joshua, 2020. "International migration experience and entrepreneurship: Evidence from Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
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    11. Sandra M. Leitner, 2021. "Net Migration and its Skill Composition in the Western Balkan Countries between 2010 and 2019: Results from a Cohort Approach," wiiw Policy Notes 47, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    12. Elida Cena & Derek Heim, 2022. "A Regretful Journey Home: Albanian Return Migration in the Wake of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 499-518, June.
    13. Sandra M. Leitner, 2021. "Net Migration and its Skill Composition in the Western Balkan Countries between 2010 and 2019: Results from a Cohort Approach Analysis," wiiw Working Papers 197, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    14. Gislain Stéphane GANDJON FANKEM & Dieudonné TAKA & Sévérin TAMWO, 2023. "The effects of new skills acquired abroad by return migrants on social relations and quality of life in Cameroon," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 58, pages 21-49.
    15. Diodato, Dario & Hausmann, Ricardo & Neffke, Frank, 2023. "The impact of return migration on employment and wages in Mexican cities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    16. Balland, Pierre-Alexandre & Broekel, Tom & Diodato, Dario & Giuliani, Elisa & Hausmann, Ricardo & O'Clery, Neave & Rigby, David, 2022. "Reprint of The new paradigm of economic complexity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(8).
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    19. Manh Hung Do & Trung Thanh Nguyen & Thanh-Tung Nguyen & Ulrike Grote, 2020. "Shocks and rural development policies: Any implications for migrants to return?," TVSEP Working Papers wp-018, Leibniz Universitaet Hannover, Institute of Development and Agricultural Economics, Project TVSEP.
    20. Valentina Constanta Tudor & Toma Adrian Dinu & Marius Vladu & Dragoș Smedescu & Ionela Mituko Vlad & Eduard Alexandru Dumitru & Cristina Maria Sterie & Carmen Luiza Costuleanu, 2022. "Labour Implications on Agricultural Production in Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-22, July.
    21. Dario Diodato & Ricardo Hausmann & Frank Neffke, 2020. "The impact of return migration from the U.S. on employment and wages in Mexican cities," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2012, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Mar 2020.
    22. Auer, Daniel & Schaub, Max, 2023. "Returning from greener pastures? How exposure to returnees affects migration plans," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    23. Gislain S. GANDJON FANKEM & Dieudonné TAKA & Sévérin TAMWO, 2023. "The effect of skills acquired abroad by return migrants on social relations and quality of life in Cameroon," Working Papers 23/011, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Return migration; Wages and employment of non-migrants;

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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