From a zero-sum to a win-win scenario: literature review on circular migration

Is the increasing optimism about the developmental potential of circular migration too optimistic? This paper discusses the literature’s treatment of the impacts of circular migration on development. Specifically, it focuses on how much the return of migrants, including members of the Diaspora, has contributed to the transfer of direct investments and human capital to sending countries. It looks at policies encouraging circular migration.

The paper finds that there is a concern that the effectiveness of a return policy can be hindered severely by the dismal political, economic, and social conditions still prevalent in most sending countries as well as by the diversity of migrants and the sometimes less than ideal dynamics of return. However, unlike the previous decades, circularity’s impact on development can no longer be easily dismissed as small or even negative. The potential developmental benefits that could accrue from a more circular movement of people are enormous, especially in an increasingly transnational world. The challenge still is to understand this new reality and to determine in what circumstances a successful circular migration policy has been and could potentially be realised.

The author points out that concrete policy recommendations that identify the specific contexts in which a return policy or temporary worker scheme can work for development are clearly lacking. A more detailed, comprehensive, and solid research base is needed within which effective and actionable policy interventions can be rooted. The current research base on migrants and Diaspora is still largely driven by the agenda of receiving countries.