What Motivates People to Emigrate from and Return to Germany? (May 2013 – April 2015)

In the context of increasing globalisation and transnational migration, the international mobility of Germany’s population has received more attention from policymakers, researchers and the general public. The goal of this research project is to collect accurate information on key motivations of emigrants and returnees that could be used as a basis to develop an effective policy for reducing the loss of skilled labour to emigration. The main component of the project is an international survey of German emigrants and returnees designed to identify the main reasons for which they decide to migrate.

The research project will be carried out in cooperation with the Department for Social Structure Analysis at the University of Duisburg-Essen and the German Federal Institute for Population Research (Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung – BiB).

The research project was funded by the Stiftung Mercator and the cooperating partners. The project findings were published in March 2015.

Publications

Summary

Internationally Mobile. Motivations, Determining Factors and Impacts of the Emigration and Return Migration of German Citizens