Migration and Development
Subtitle: Factoring Return into the Equation
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Published: Nov 2009
Place of publication: Newcastle UK
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 372
ISBN-13: 9781443813525
Description: This book focuses on international migration and return of highly-skilled Ghanaians and Ivorians and presents empirical research findings that demonstrate that, under certain circumstances, return migrants can act as key development agents in their home country. It investigates the influence of a number of factors that condition their motivation to return and their capacity to stimulate change in their countries of origin. The aim of the study is the assessment of policy implications related to élite returnees’ development impact in evolving socio-economic contexts.

The comparative and multi-method research strategy adopted revealed that migrants tend to return home with considerable savings (financial capital), new knowledge, skills and ideas (human capital), as well as with valuable contacts (social capital). Besides their level of education, work profile, and particular life experience, whether these migrants have worked abroad for a significant period, proved the most critical factor influencing their acquisition of different kinds of capital. However, there seems to be an ‘optimum’ work duration abroad – approximately five years – after which the benefits deriving from human and financial capital acquisition tend to stabilise.

At the micro level, back home skilled migrants attained their goals, improving their relative income levels, expressing satisfaction with their work conditions and, more generally, enjoying a higher quality of life. At the meso level, they provided support to others in line with expectations and pressures they faced. They also introduced many kinds of new knowledge, skills and ideas in their workplace. At the macro level, return migrants promoted economic and political transformations through, among others, the creation of new businesses and various community development initiatives.

The role of return migrants is influenced by many factors linked also to their situation back home. Reintegration into their home context proved challenging, especially for women, and returning migrants need time to overcome initial hurdles and get settled before they can start to make any meaningful contribution. That is one of the reasons why there is a need to facilitate their reintegration and create a conducive environment which can also foster return migration of the highly-skilled élite. More importantly, however, evidence is produced in favour of arguments and ideas about ‘brain circulation’, a strategy that can help in maximising the positive effects stemming from migration and return.
Table of contents: title: List of Tables                                                                              vi; title: Abbreviations and Acronyms	                                                  ix; title: Acknowledgements	                                                                   x; title: One	General Introduction	                                                                                            1; title: Two	Revisiting the Linkage between Migration and Development	                           11; title: Three	Adopting a Comparative Multimethod Research Approach	                           49; title: Four	The Context of the Study Conducted in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana	                   69; title: Five	Background Information on Migrants Interviewed Abroad and Back Home	           95; title: Six    	The Role of Return Migrants in the Development of their Home Country	  117; title: Seven       Ghanaian and Ivorian Élites in Europe and North America	                          151; title: Eight	        The Dynamics of Return Migration to Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana	                  189; title: Nine	        The Challenges of Readjustment and Reintegration Back Home	                  217; title: Ten	        Assessing the Implications of Return Migration at Different Levels	          245; title: Eleven	Main Conclusions and Some Ways Forward	                                          295; title: Annexes	                                             311; title: Bibliography	                                     347