Germán Calfat

The EU-Mercosol Free Trade Agreement: Quantifying Mutual Gains

We identify trade in goods opportunities in a EU-Mercosul free trade area. Gains for Mercosul are rather concentrated, being mostly associated with a few agricultural commodities which face high protection barriers. EU gains are evenly spread, comprising a variety of market penetration possibilities. Trade deviation in the EU products is never higher than trade creation, confirming their international competitiveness and signalling that no great distortion of Mercosuls imports will take place. Balanced gains exist for both sides. For Mercosul, the agreement would act as a first serious trial for future liberalizations with other developed partners and as a warning on improvements in competitiveness.

Return for development or ‘business’ as usual? The Ecuadorian experience

Ecuador is a highly interesting context to explore the dynamics between migration and return. Since the election of president Rafael Correa, a new migration policy framework has been established. A lot of attention is paid to returnees and their potential contribution to the nation’s development. Official assessments of these measures, however, are lacking. This article provides a general insight into the experiences and obstacles with which return entrepreneurs are confronted in this region. Fieldwork was conducted in the Ecuadorian provinces of Azuay and Cañar. The stereotypical idea of ‘migrants coming back with a lot of money’, does not seem to correspond with reality. Abroad, these migrants find themselves in a weak socio-economic position and experience difficulties to collect financial, human as well as social capital. The economic activities they engage in upon return, can often be perceived as forms of necessity entrepreneurship. The government measures, such as loans provided by the Banca del Migrante and the service delivery at the Secretaria Nacional del Migrante, are evaluated rather negatively. Hence, we propose a number of policy improvements such as the conditionality of financial support and the provision of technical assistance before and during the initiation of the returnees’ entrepreneurial activities.

Home sweet home: embracing the return to returnees’ migration

Abstract The literature on return migration emphasizes its development contribution through the money (savings) brought home by returnees as well as the knowledge and experience gained by studying or working abroad. A significant body of this scholarship focuses on the entrepreneurial activities of returnees due to its supposed spillover effects in reducing unemployment and poverty. However, it is essential to examine other outcomes that returnees have achieved for themselves and their family to completely comprehend the consequences of return migration. Exploiting the result of in-depth interviews in the Ecuadorian Austro, returnees reveal that building a house is one of their ardent aspirations for migration. We use this evidence to assess the consequences of migration by looking at household wellbeing through house ownership. Our results reveal that households that ever had a return migrant have higher probability of house ownership. Moreover, complementing migration-specific census data with in-depth interviews, we also get encouraging results as shown by the money brought home when they return, the setting-up of business by a few, and the gains in human capital demonstrated through kitchen-related training, knowledge of the English language, and acquired efficient work-culture.