# **3.2 Non-migrants versus Return Migrants**

We focus on working-age men, aged 15 to 59 years old at the time of survey, as Egyptian migration is mostly male dominated. In Table 1, we report descriptive statistics on the sample of non-migrants (individuals who never migrated) and return migrants (individuals who migrated for work purposes and returned to Egypt). The two groups of individuals are significantly different along a set of individual, geographical, and job characteristics. Returnees are found to be significantly older compared to nonmigrants, and also significantly more likely to be married. Returnees are also found to be more likely to have secondary education but less likely to have above secondary education compared to non-migrants. The incidence of rural residence is also significantly higher among return migrants compared to non-migrants.

In terms of geographical locations, returnees are found to be less likely to live in Cairo, Alexandria, Canal cities, and urban Upper Egypt, and significantly more likely to live in rural Lower Egypt.<sup>7</sup> Returnees also have greater job tenure compared to non-migrants and we find that the incidence of having a work contract is also higher among return migrants. In terms of sectors of employment, returnees are significantly more likely to be employed in the public sector for their job in 2012 compared to nonmigrants. In terms of economic activities, we find that non-migrants are significantly more likely to be employed in manufacturing, mining, and quarrying, and in wholesale and retail trade compared to return migrants.

# **3.3 Defining Undocumented Migration**

In the ELMPS 2012, return migrants were asked whether they had a visa or official document to enter the destination country during the first migration episode, as well as the type of document they had.<sup>8</sup> Relying on this information, we are able to identify documented and undocumented migrants among the pool of return migrants. For most of the destination countries, Egyptian migrants are required to have a visa. For a few countries, like Sudan, Libya, Jordan, Lebanon, and the Republic of Yemen, Egyptians

> 7 In Table A.1 in the Online Appendix, we also examine the geographical transition matrices for non-migrants and return migrants in Panel A and Panel B, respectively. We examine individuals’ mobility between their region of birth and their region of residence, at the time of the survey, in order to investigate whether the geographical locations reported in Table 1 reflect settlement choices after return or whether returnees are simply returning to their regions of origin. The diagonal cells represent the percentage of individuals who stayed within the same region between birth and the time of the survey, while the cells below and above the diagonal represent the percentage of individuals who moved to a different region between the two time periods. For both non-migrants and return migrants, we compute the mobility rate as the sum of all cells below and above the diagonal. We find evidence of little mobility for both groups—the mobility rates are equal to 5.5% and 7.1% for non-migrants and return migrants, respectively. The descriptive statistics on geographical locations in Table 1 therefore do not reflect relocation choices, as the results suggest that return migrants eventually return to their origin regions.

> 8 This question is similar to what was used in the Mexican Migration Project questionnaire to elicit information on the documentation the migrant had.

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