Return Migration When Savings Differ

:Continuing immigration of low wage and low skill workers to more developed countries from less developed regions of the world has become an issue of policy debate. Host countries which do not view themselves as countries of immigration are eager to develop incentives which forestall migrants from becoming permanent residents. This paper reports that return migrants with savings have a higher probability of settling in birthplace regions, which tend to be lagging and less developed regions. Policies which encourage savings among migrants are likely to encourage return migration which is spread across regions of outmigration rather than concentrated in major urban areas. Without savings, the rate of return to less developed regions would be extremely low, demonstrating the importance of savings to a pattern of balanced return migration.