Current theories conceptualize return migration to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina as an individual-level assessment of costs and benefits. Since relocation is cost prohibitive, return migration is thought to be unlikely for vulnerable populations. However, recent analyses of longitudinal survey data suggest that these individuals are likely to return to New Orleans over time despite achiev...

Recovering the Counterfactual Wage Distribution with Selective Return Migration This paper explores the distribution of immigrant wages in the absence of return migration from the host country. In particular, it recovers the counterfactual wage distribution if all Mexican immigrants were to settle in the United States and no out-migration of Mexican-born workers occurred. Because migrants self-...

This paper recovers the distribution of wages for Mexican-born workers living in the U.S. if no return migration of Mexican-born workers occurred. Because migrants self-select in the decision to return, the overarching problem addressed by this study is the use of an estimator that also accounts for selection on unobservables. I find that Mexican returnees are middleto high-wage earners at all ...

Using data from the Mexican Migration Project we compute probabilities of departure and return for first and later trips to the United States in both documented and undocumented status. We then estimate statistical models to analyze the determinants of departure and return according to legal status. Prior to 1986, Mexico-U.S. migration was characterized by great circularity, but since then circ...