Experiences in host countries and return plans: The Case of Highly-skilled Indians in Europe Metka Hercog, EPFL, Cooperation and Development Center 6 December, 2012

Motivation Changes towards skills-selective immigration policies in many developed countries Europe has emerged as a new player in the “global competition for talent”, competing with traditional countries of immigration for the brightest migrants (Papademetriou, 2003) Empirical evidence that institutional settings matter whether a country is able to attract skilled foreigners (Docquier, Lohest, & Marfouk, 2006; Gross, 2006; Mayda, 2005) Decision-making on return different from emigration decisions: migrants better informed about host and home countries (Grundel & Peters, 2008)

Research question What determines plans to return to the home country? To what extent does the host country environment affect the choice of migrants to stay abroad or return to their home country?

Research focus: new European destination countries

Figure 1: Immigration flow of Indian population in selected countries ( ), Source: OECD.stat New destination countries for Indian immigrants

Opposing hypotheses Return as an indication of integration failure Return as an indication of integration failure Lack of economic and sociocultural integration in destination countries will have a positive effect on plans to return. Return as a measure of success Return as a measure of success Migrants expected to return after sufficient human and financial capital has been accumulated abroad.

Research design On-line survey “Skilled Indians abroad and development” (from June 2011 and April 2012) Population of interest: Indian professionals and students currently residing in four destination countries: Germany, France, The Netherlands, Switzerland Specialized in: ICT, Finance and Management, Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals, Academia People who came directly from India Excluding people who work at international organizations Purposive sampling: circulation of the survey among Indian student and alumni associations, Indian migrant organisations, professional and social networks sites, researchers of the research institutes and among friends and colleagues of the individuals contacted

Survey response 841 respondents

Personal characteristics ValuesDescriptives (in %) Age N=602 Average age in years (st. dev) Less than to and older (7.52) Gender N=599 female male Community N=634 Non-Hindu communities Hindus Not given Activity N=747 In education and training Professional other Relationship N=618 single relationship (boyfriend/girlfriend) married divorced widowed Children N=638 no children children

Plans for the next 5 years Return to the home country Stay in the host country Move to a third country Not sure yet

Future plans: Reported plans for the following 5 years

What do you plan to do in the following five years? No return to IndiaReturn to IndiaTotal % % % Gender Female Male 24% 76%17.9% 82.1% 22.2% 77.8% Age average in years Less than % 68.8% 69.6% 30 and older30.1% 31.2% 30.4% Community Hindu77.9%82.4%79.1% Non-Hindu22.1%17.6%20.9% Main activity In training and education59.6%63.1%60.6% Professionals34.3%33.5%34.1% Other6.1%3.4%5.3% Relationship In a relationship/married48% Single50.9% Other(divorced/widow)1.1% Children No children84.8%84.2%84.6% Children15.2%15.8%15.4%

Host country** No return Return Total France43.5%37.4%41.9% Germany15.5%26.8%18.6% Switzerland28.9%26.3%28.2% The Netherlands12.1%9.5%11.4% Lengths of stay abroad*** Average number of months Up to 1 year14.9%22%16.8% Up to 2 years30.9%37%32.6% 2 to 5 years35.9%33.5%35.2% More than 5 years18.4%7.5%15.4% Previous migration No56.5%58%56.9% Yes43.5%42%43.1% Resident status*** Citizen 6.5%1.1%5% long-term 3.8%1.7%3.2% short-term 86.8%97.2%89.6% Other 2.9%0%2.1% Language knowledge*** Not at all 8.2%14%9.8% A little bit 49.3%59.2%52% Reasonably well 28.9%21.2%26.8% Very well 13.6%5.6%11.4%

Satisfaction with living conditions (1-very bad to 5-very good)

Satisfaction in destination countries and return plans (1-very bad to 5-very good)

Positive effect on return plans for: No effect on return plans for Personal characteristics Male migrants Belonging to a Hindu community Being employed (vs. studying) Age Relationship status Having children Host country factors Indians residing in Germany Short duration of stay abroad Short-term residence permit Speak little or no host country language Previous migration experience Experiences in host country Satisfied with the income level Satisfied with the immigration policy situation Dissatisfied with possibilities to communicate with local people Dependent variable: plan to return to India in the following 5 years

Findings Return as an indication of economic success: Positive effect of education and income satisfaction on return intentions. Return as an indication of failure in socioeconomic integration: Lack of sociocultural integration and dissatisfaction with communication possibilities in the host country have a strong positive effect on return plans.

Lessons for European destination countries Staying in European countries seen as much more temporary compared to staying in traditional immigration countries Economic opportunities alone cannot foster the retention of skilled migrants Importance of creating an attractive environment for professionals and their families More attention should be paid to language issue

Thank you for your attention