Editorial: Re/migration as a resource: development, democratization, and innovation

The first strand examines human capital transfer, especially the inflow of skills and entrepreneurial experience as forms of economic capital. In their study on Bulgaria, Vassileva and Pamporov move beyond the narrow focus on remittances to highlight two key features of contemporary European mobility:• Returning migrants bring "cognitive resources"-new skills, professional networks, and innovative business ideas (Vassileva & Pamporov, 2026).• Returnees frequently invest their savings in small and medium-sized enterprises, but their success depends heavily on the state's capacity to recognize and support their international experience (Vassileva & Pamporov, 2026).Complementing this, Mohammad et al. analyse 17 OECD countries (2000-2023) and challenge the widespread belief that refugees "take away" jobs from locals. Their findings show that migrant inflows can stimulate economic growth and generate employment by expanding markets and introducing new products and services. Higher net migration rates are significantly associated with lower unemployment among native workers (Mohammad et al., 2025). Notably, countries with active, selective migration policies (e.g. Canada and Australia) achieve better integration outcomes, whereas countries with more reactive policies (e.g. Greece and Italy) face greater labour market pressures (Mohammad et al., 2025).The second strand shifts to a micro-level focus on personal trajectories, challenges, and adaptation strategies in migration and return. Castañeda Díaz et al. provide an in-depth ethnographic account of Mexican migrants in the United States, highlighting the paradox of the "American career." Migrants often describe their lives as marked by a "lack of freedom" due to exhausting work schedules and self-imposed restrictions to save money (Díaz et al., 2026). In this context, celebration becomes cathartic: traditional hometown fiestas function as crucial emotional anchors, temporarily restoring a sense of freedom, community, and belonging (Díaz et al., 2026).The third strand focuses on how migration shapes organizational structures and strategies. Vassileva and Pamporov investigate how Bulgarian firms adapt to the reintegration of returning migrants, emphasizing the importance of flexible mechanisms for harnessing skills and experience gained abroad. Building on this, Kotlyarevskyy et al. propose a new enterprise management model that treats labour migration as a central factor of organizational stability. They argue that, under conditions of uncertainty, firms must integrate migration dynamics into strategic planning to sustain their human capital (Kotlyarevskyy et al., 2025). At the same time, digitalization-understood as the integration of digital technologies with strategic human resource management-emerges as a key driver of organizational resilience and responsiveness to external change (Kotlyarevskyy et al., 2025).In conclusion, this special issue shows that macroeconomic analyses illuminate structural effects and market dynamics (Mohammad et al., 2025;Ridwan et al., 2026), while qualitative studies reveal the social costs of migration and underscore the need for flexible institutional frameworks. Together, they demonstrate how mobility can be transformed into a sustainable resource for development (Díaz et al., 2026;Kotlyarevskyy et al., 2025;Vassileva & Pamporov, 2026). Reconceptualizing migration from a problem to be managed into a resource to be harnessed shifts policy from short-term, ad hoc measures to long-term, strategic solutions. Migrants are drivers of development whose savings, accumulated skills, and networks can stimulate innovation, sustainability, and democratic quality-provided that public institutions create the conditions for these resources to be fully utilized.