typically restrict the recall period for past migration episodes.<sup>5</sup> In addition, nationallyrepresentative surveys lack detail on the past migration experience which would allow to link migration patterns to labor market outcomes after return. Those nationally representative surveys can be complemented by surveys targeted to return migrants, which remain very rare globally and for South Asia, with the only exception being the Bangladesh Return Migrant Survey (BRMS) 2018/2019 recently collected by the World Bank (Bossavie, Gorlach, et al. 2021). The three nationally-representative household surveys from Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan used in this paper collect detailed information on current labor market outcomes of individuals. They also ask a few questions about past migration overseas. All surveys also collect information on how long returnees have been back home, which enables to shed light on the relationship between duration of stay back in the home country and labor market outcomes, as reintegration back into home labor markets may take time. These surveys also allow to carry out a profiling of return migrants and to compare their characteristics to those of nonmigrants, shedding light on selection in return migration.

The extent of information collected on past migration differs in the three surveys. The 2017/2018 Labor Force Survey (LFS) for Nepal collects the most comprehensive data on past migration. It includes a dedicated module on past migration overseas by current household members, which asks about country of destination, occupation at destination, wages abroad, date of departure and date of return. It also includes a module on current absentees overseas which allows to compare the characteristics of current migrants and returnees. For Bangladesh, the analysis uses the 2016/2017 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) where information on past migration overseas is much more parsimonious. The survey asks current household members whether they have returned from abroad in the past five years, but does not ask further questions about the past migration experience.<sup>6</sup> We are however able to complement the HIES data with detailed data on return migrants from the World Bank Bangladesh Return Migrant Survey (BRMS) 2018/2019 which was targeted to households with a return migrant.<sup>7</sup> In Pakistan, information on past migration overseas collected in nationally representative surveys is also quite parsimonious. The national Labor Force Survey (LFS) includes a short module on past migration, which allows to identify

> 5National household surveys in Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan ask individuals whether they have returned from abroad in the past 5 years only. Therefore, individuals who returned from overseas prior to that cannot be identified from the survey data.

> 6As in Nepal, however, the survey includes an absentee module collecting basic demographic information on household members that are currently absent from the household for work overseas, together with their country of destination, year of departure and occupation.

> 7For more details about the Bangladesh Return Migrant Survey (BRMS), see Bossavie, Gorlach, et al. (2021).

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