Does International Mobility Pay Off? Comparing Labour Market Success of Recent German Remigrants and the German Stayer Population

ABSTRACT The article presents analysis of German remigrants' individual labour market success. Whereas some authors stress that remigration is associated with failure of emigration, other researchers underscore that remigrants' careers could benefit from their international experiences. Two questions are examined: First, does international experience pay off in terms of labour market success? Second, does remigrants' labour market success depend on other social factors? To answer these questions, German remigrants and the German stayer population are compared regarding wages, occupational status and unemployment risk. Thus, not only employment conditions are analysed, but also labour market participation. Based on data from the German Emigration and Remigration Panel Study (GERPS) and German Socioeconomic Panel (SOEP), regressions are estimated. Results indicate that compared to stayers, German remigrants generally benefit in terms of wages and partly in terms of occupational status. Social inequalities can be reduced through international mobility for individuals with non‐German origins and for non‐graduated remigrants, but are reinforced regarding gender.