Is Return Migration A Realistic Option To Spur Growth And Development In Sending Countries

Migration is an important international issue in the current world. Today's migrants no longer stay in one country permanently; returning home remains a choice or even aspiration for them. Return migration, once an often neglected and overlooked phenomenon, has attracted much attention both in general migration literature and in policy making. In the era of fierce talent competition, governments all over the world have realized the potential advantage they can gain from return migrants, and have implemented different policies to attract the talents with overseas backgrounds. China, currently witnessing the biggest wave of return of overseas returnees, has already recognized their importance by providing privileged policies to attract overseas Chinese to return and to facilitate their getting employed, starting up business and settling down in life once they return. However, is return migration a realistic option to spur development and growth in sending countries, as it is taken for granted to be? This is the first and most fundamental question to consider when making policies favoring return migrants, and a correct, comprehensive answer to it determines if the value of return migrants can be maximized from the perspective of sending countries.Starting from a broader perspective of general migration research, the paper systematically reviews the phenomenon of return migration, and analyzes the possible positive impact it can have theoretically on the growth and development in sending countries, in terms of human capital, financial capital and social capital, as well as the reasons why the potential positive impact cannot be fully realized in real practice, including the difficulties in reintegration, lack of motivation of capital investment, and less favorable institutional environment in sending countries. This is followed by a theoretical model of the impact of return migration on growth and development in sending countries. The paper also lists and analyzes some typical and representative policies and practices supporting and facilitating voluntary return migration to promote and stimulate the positive potential effects that return migration has on the development and growth of the sending countries.Then, the paper describes the development history and current status quo of Chinese overseas returnees, as well as the relevant policies. By taking Chinese overseas returnees as a type of return migrants into the broad framework of return migration analysis, the paper analyzes the potential positive impact of Chinese returnees on its economic development using the mechanism proposed. By referring to existing surveys and empirical studies, it attests, from both subjective and objective points of view, that Chinese overseas returnees are promoting the returning flow of human capital, financial capital and social capital, which do play a role in the development, growth and technology progress of China, while also faced with difficulties in reintegration and a less optimal institutional environment.The methodology applied in this paper is a combination of theory analysis and case study. The approach taken goes from a broad, general global analysis of return migration to a specific country case study of China and Chinese overseas returnees. The conclusion presented is that, theoretically, as voluntary return migrants in general, the human capital, financial capital and social capital carried by Chinese overseas returnees have the potential to spur growth and development in China; but in practice, many factors can limit such potential. Therefore, apart from attracting overseas Chinese to return, which has already been done very well by the Chinese government, more effective guidance, support and follow-up policies are needed and should be in place for those who have returned.