On the occupational choices of return migrants

This paper examines the factors affecting the employment decision of return migrants. We use data from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic, Romania, and Tajikistan in which we can examine three categories of occupational status: salaried employment; self-employment without employees; and self-employment with employees. First we examine the choice between self-employment in general (merging the two variants of self-employment) and salaried employment, using binary logit regression. We find that male gender, savings, remittances, household size, and pre-migration experience in the country of origin in self-employment (either as an employer and as a self-employed person without employees) are shaping this decision. However, when we examine the choice between all three categories with the use of multinomial logit regression, we find considerable differences between self-employed individuals and employers. For example, the amount of remittances sent back while working as a migrant, the acquisition of further qualifications (in the form of certified skills, degree, or certificates), and the duration of migration increase the propensity for becoming an employer instead of becoming self-employed, while the amount of savings is not significant in this decision. Finally, we also find that the variables affecting the employment choice decision are different for males and females. Marital status and the duration of migration is statistically significant only for females while household size, remittances, and savings are statistically significant only for males.