This article examines the main determinants for entrepreneurial activities among return migrants in a regional context within Romania. The analytical framework is based on conceptual tools provided by the intersection of entrepreneurship theory and return migration research. The study aimed to answer a set of research questions regarding migrant individuals’ probability for entrepreneurial careers upon return, and Romania constitutes a fertile European origin country for testing them. Returnees are perceived as one of the main transformational forces within the country, and great expectations are related to their entrepreneurial orientation. We test this general assumption using survey data collected from 840 returnees and several logistic regression models which included variables about employment status before the individuals’ first migration, country of destination, length of stay abroad, return reasons, use of savings, and sociodemographics. Individuals’ characteristics as well as features of the migration experiences were found to be highly relevant for predicting the chances of migrants entering into entrepreneurship upon return.

Challenging a biased view towards self-employed returnees as neoliberal selves, as the normalized approach of the migration–development nexus tends to depict them, this article builds an alternative conceptual framework to unpack the variegated experiences of migrant returnees’ self-employment trajectories in post-socialist Romania. The authors argue that the overemphasis on the benefits of return migration for origin countries through the skewed focus on the migrants’ accrual of human and financial capital and their ostensible entrepreneurial orientation has resulted in disregarding more influential biographical and cultural aspects. Life story interviews with middle-aged participants reveal the complex subjectivities that are co-produced by the habitus formed during communism – as children born and raised within working-class families – neoliberalism’s rise during the post-socialist transition, and migration, which altered the pursuit of their life goals. The article documents three distinct self-employment pathways among the interviewed return migrants, suggesting that the subjectivities of the self-employed are not uniformly confined to neoliberal self-understandings.

This study sought to address an important gap in the contemporary literature on intra-European return migration and examines the factors shaping Romanian returnees’ support for return policies based on entrepreneurship. Empirical evidence collected using a multi-method approach was analysed to identify how various features linked to migration experiences and return influence returnees’ likelihood of supporting these types of policies. The quantitative results of logistic regression analyses were complemented by a systematic analysis of qualitative insights collected through in-depth interviews. The general profile of Romanian returnees who support policies focused on entrepreneurship includes the extension of social networks during migration, improvements in self-confidence levels, longer periods after return and urban residential status. A lower probability of favouring these types of policies is determined by returnees’ positive evaluation of pay levels in the local labour market, remittances during migration periods and a higher importance given to the value of migration in terms of learning foreign languages. The in-depth interviews facilitated the identification of the main lines of discourse about what Romanian returnees and a counterfactual control group of non-migrant entrepreneurs think about return migration policy implementation in Romania.

The article is focused on researching the hidden effects of seasonal migration in agriculture on Roma communities in Romania. The theoretical framework considers the specific nature of seasonal migration in agriculture and includes elements relevant to understanding the seasonal migration patterns of the Roma population from Romania. The research is based on a qualitative methodological design and over 120 interviews in four communities with Roma individuals and key actors at the community level (e.g., local authorities, teachers, priests, and social workers). The interviews are thematically analyzed, and the hidden costs of seasonal migration are discussed at three levels of analysis: individual, familial, and community. First and foremost, the analysis emphasizes that migration is the most significant factor of social change in the studied Roma communities, and its effects are multifaceted. The analysis reveals significant negative costs of migration in terms of health, education, employability, family, and community life. In the medium and long term, these effects decrease the positive aspects linked to the material gains from migration, making these Roma communities more vulnerable and dependent.