Book 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.