Abstract
Using a novel panel data set of recent immigrants to the US (2005–2007) from individual-level linked US Census Bureau data and Internal Revenue Service records, we measure the impact of return migration on immigrants’ earnings growth and earnings assimilation. We show that by ten years after arrival, almost 40 percent of recent immigrants have return migrated. We show, for the first time, that return migrants experience downward earnings mobility over two to three years prior to their return migration, suggesting that declining earnings are closely related to emigration decisions.
Footnotes
ISSN 0022-166X E-ISSN 1548-8004 © 2026 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.
- Received July 2022.
- Accepted November 2023.
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In this issue
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- Article
- Abstract
- I. Introduction
- II. Literature Review
- III. Data Description
- IV. Estimating Return Migration and Wage Assimilation in 2005– 2007 Arrival Cohorts
- V. Empirical Results for Return Migration and Earnings Assimilation
- VI. Selection for Balanced Panel of Immigrants Between Adjacent Years
- VII. Discussion of Results and Conclusion
- Acknowledgments
- Footnotes
- References
- Figures & Data
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