Overseas work experience, savings and entrepreneurship amongst return migrants to LDCs

This paper contributes to a small but rapidly growing literature concerned with the potentially substantial implications of international migration fo r economic development in LDCs, We study the linkages between overseas empl oyment, savings and entrepreneurial activity on return. In an econometric m odel of the probability of entrepreneurial activity, we find evidence suppo rting the hypotheses that both overseas savings, and the duration of stay o verseas increase the probability of becoming an entrepreneur amongst litera te returnees to Egypt. Amongst illiterate returnees, overseas savings alone increase the probability of becoming an entrepreneur. The results for lite rates suggest that skill acquisition overseas may matter more substantially than overcoming a savings constraint in explaining how overseas opportunit ies influence entrepreneurship on return. For illiterates, who usually acce pt menial positions overseas that offer little opportunity for learning, th e opposite obtains.