Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad logo

Desarro. soc. | eISSN 1900-7760 | ISSN 0120-3584

Return migration, entrepreneurship, and assets

No. 89 (2021-12-01)
  • Jaime Lara Lara
  • Jesús Alberto Elizondo Salazar
  • Adrián Frausto Segovia
  • Tania Lizbeth López Cano
  • Héctor Javier Quiroga Suárez

Abstract

International migrants return to their home countries in high proportions. This research analyzes the relationship between return migration and entrepreneurship in the case of Mexico. Using past community migration as an instrument, we find that return migrants become entrepreneurs more often than non-migrants, but only in recent periods. Return migrants also tend to accumulate more assets than non-migrants. However, the businesses owned by return migrants tend to have fewer than four employees, and thus do not have much potential for job creation. Policy supporting bigger enterprises is recommended.

Keywords: Self-employed, migration policy, Mexico

References

Baum, C. F., Schaffer, M. E., & Stillman, S. (2002). IVREG2: Stata module for extended instrumental variables/2SLS and GMM estimation. Retrieved from http://ideas.repec.org/c/boc/bocode/s425401.html

Calderon, G., Iacovone, L., & Juarez, L. (2016). Opportunity versus Necessity: Understanding the Heterogeneity of Female Micro-Entrepreneurs. The World Bank Economic Review, lhw010. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhw010

Campos-Vazquez, R. M., & Lara, J. (2012). Self-selection patterns among return migrants: Mexico 1990-2010. IZA Journal of Migration, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-9039-1-8

Collier, W., Piracha, M., & Randazzo, T. (2018). Remittances and return migration. Review of Development Economics, 22(1), 174–202. https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12335

Croitoru, A. (2019). No Entrepreneurship without Opportunity: The Intersection of Return Migration Research and Entrepreneurship Literature. Social Change Review, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1515/scr-2019-0001

Démurger, S., & Xu, H. (2011). Return Migrants: The Rise of New Entrepreneurs in Rural China. World Development, 39(10), 1847–1861. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.04.027

Dustmann, C., & Görlach, J. S. (2016). The economics of temporary migrations. Journal of Economic Literature, 54(1), 98–136. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.54.1.98

Dustmann, C., & Kirchkamp, O. (2002). The optimal migration duration and activity choice after re-migration. Journal of Development Economics, 67(2), 351–372. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3878(01)00193-6

Hagan, J. M., & Wassink, J. (2016). New Skills, New Jobs: Return Migration, Skill Transfers, and Business Formation in Mexico. Social Problems, 63(4), 513–533. https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spw021

Kabubo-Mariara, J. (2003). The linkages between property rights, migration, and productivity: The case of Kajiado district, Kenya. Environment and Development Economics, 8(4), 621–636. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355770X0300330

Kotorri, M., Krasniqi, B. A., & Dabic, M. (2020). Migration, Remittances, and Entrepreneurship: A Seemingly Unrelated Bivariate Probit Approach. Remittances Review, 5(1), 15–36. https://doi.org/10.33182/rr.v5i1.807

Lara Lara, J. (2017). Ingresos laborales en México y Estados Unidos para migrantes temporales. Migraciones Internacionales, 9(1), 95–117.

Lianos, T., & Pseiridis, A. (2009). On the occupational choices of return migrants. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 21(2), 155–181. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985620802176187

Lindstrom, D. P. (1996). Economic Opportunity in Mexico and Return Migration from the United States. Demography, 33(3), 357. https://doi.org/10.2307/2061767

Masferrer, C., & Roberts, B. R. (2016). The Changing Patterns of Return Migration from the USA to Mexico and Their Policy Implications. In D. L.Leal & N. P.Rodríguez (Eds.), Migration in an Era of Restriction and Recession (pp. 235–258). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24445-7_12

Massey, D. S., Durand, J., & Pren, K. A. (2016). Why border enforcement backfired. American Journal of Sociology, 121(5), 1557–1600. https://doi.org/10.1086/684200

Massey, D. S., & Parrado, E. a. (1998). International Migration and Business Formation in Mexico. Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 79, pp. 1–20. https://doi.org/http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0038-4941

Mckenzie, D., & Rapoport, H. (2007). Network effects and the dynamics of migration and inequality: Theory and evidence from Mexico. Journal of Development Economics, 84(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2006.11.003

Meyers, D. W. (2003). Does “Smarter” Lead to Safer? An Assessment of the US Border Accords with Canada and Mexico. International Migration, 41(4), 5–44. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2435.00251

Mitchell, C. (2006). The Significance of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks for United States-Bound Migration in the Western Hemisphere. International Migration Review, 36(1), 29–32. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2002.tb00067.x

Naudé, W., Siegel, M., & Marchand, K. (2017). Migration, entrepreneurship and development: critical questions. IZA Journal of Migration, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40176-016-0077-8

Office of Population Research, P. U., & Departametnto de Estudios sobre Movimientos Sociales, U. de G. (2020). Mexican Migration Project. Retrieved January 23, 2020, from https://mmp.opr.princeton.edu/

Piracha, M., & Vadean, F. (2010). Return Migration and Occupational Choice: Evidence from Albania. World Development, 38(8), 1141–1155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2009.12.015

Reinhold, S., & Thom, K. (2013). Migration experience and earnings in the mexican labor market. Journal of Human Resources, 48(3), 768–820. https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.48.3.768

Stark, O. (2019). Behavior in reverse: reasons for return migration. Behavioural Public Policy, 3(1), 104–126. https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2018.27

Taylor, J. E., & Lopez-Feldman, A. (2010). Does migration make rural households more productive? Evidence from Mexico. Journal of Development Studies, 46(1), 68–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220380903198463

Valsecchi, M. (2014). Land property rights and international migration: Evidence from Mexico. Journal of Development Economics, 110, 276–290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2014.01.010

Wahba, J. (2014). Return migration and economic development. International Handbook on Migration and Economic Development, 327–349. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781782548072.00016

Wahba, J., & Zenou, Y. (2012). Out of sight, out of mind: Migration, entrepreneurship and social capital. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 42(5), 890–903. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2012.04.007

Woodruff, C., & Zenteno, R. (2007). Migration networks and microenterprises in Mexico. Journal of Development Economics, 82(2), 509–528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2006.03.006

License