The Optimal Migration Duration and Activity Choice after Re-Migration

40 Pages Posted: 23 Apr 2001

See all articles by Christian Dustmann

Christian Dustmann

University College London; Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Oliver Kirchkamp

Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena - Economics Department; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Date Written: February 2001

Abstract

If migrants return to their origin countries, two questions arise which are of immediate economic interest for both immigration and emigration country: What determines their optimal migration duration, and what are the activities migrants choose after a return. Little research has been devoted to these two issues. This paper utilizes a unique survey data set which records activities of returned migrants. We first illustrate the activities of immigrants after returning. We show that more than half of the returning migrants are economically active after return, and most of them engage in entrepreneurial activities. We then develop a model, where migrants decide simultaneously about the optimal migration duration, and their after-return activities. Guided by this model, we specify and estimate an empirical model, where the after-return activity, and the optimal migration duration are simultaneously chosen.

Keywords: Life Cycle Models, International Migration, Qualitative Choice Models

JEL Classification: D9, F22, C35

Suggested Citation

Dustmann, Christian and Kirchkamp, Oliver, The Optimal Migration Duration and Activity Choice after Re-Migration (February 2001). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=267199 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.267199

Christian Dustmann (Contact Author)

University College London ( email )

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Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)

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United Kingdom

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Oliver Kirchkamp

Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena - Economics Department ( email )

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Jena, 07737
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.kirchkamp.de/

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) ( email )

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.kirchkamp.de/

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