Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research

Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research
Repatriation of international assignees: where are we and where do we go from here? A systematic
literature review
Jan Knocke, Tassilo Schuster,
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Jan Knocke, Tassilo Schuster, "Repatriation of international assignees: where are we and where do we go from here?
A systematic literature review", Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research, https://
doi.org/10.1108/JGM-01-2017-0001
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Repatriation of International Assignees:
Where Are We and Where Do We Go From Here? A Systematic Literature Review
Abstract
Purpose: Repatriation continues to be a current challenge for many international firms. While this
topic has received only limited attention in literature in the past, it has aroused an increased academic
interest since the 2000s. Until now, however, thorough analyses of advancements in this field, which
go beyond a pure content-related review, are still scarce in research. To address this gap, this study
provides a systematic and comprehensive literature review of repatriation from an ecological systems
perspective. The intention of this review is threefold: to analyze (1) where and when repatriation re-
search has been published, (2) what aspects (e.g. topics, theories, and contexts) have been considered
in the repatriation literature, and (3) how the research has been conducted (e.g. employed methodolo-
gies). Based on the findings implications for future research are developed.
Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on a systematic literature review of 96

peer-reviewed articles from 1973 to 2016.
Findings: The results of the study reveal that repatriation has found its way into journals of different
disciplines. By employing an ecological systems theoretical perspective the study shows that research
on repatriation covers a broad set of ecological systems to explain repatriation outcomes. Quantitative
approaches are fairly prominent in repatriation research, whereas the use of qualitative approaches has
increased lately. Mixed-methods approaches however are still scarce in the repatriation literature.
Moreover, the results outline that the majority of scholars collected data on the individual level. With
regard to methodological rigor (both design and analysis) a steady use of linear regression modelling
in quantitative articles was found, whereas more sophisticated methodological approaches such as
structural equation modelling and longitudinal studies have only recently found their way into repat-
riation research. Finally, by considering that the expatriate literature addresses a variety of types of
expatriation, this study highlights that research on repatriation should differentiate more thoroughly
between types of repatriates to provide target-group-oriented recommendations and to deepen the un-
derstanding of the repatriation phenomenon.
Originality/value: The study contributes to the repatriation research in several ways. First, it provides
a systematic analysis of the repatriation literature from an ecological systems theoretical lens. By
combining this content-related analysis with an investigation of methodological issues, the study out-
lines which ecological systems have been covered in the literature on repatriation, where the strengths
and weaknesses of this literature stream lay, and in which direction future avenues of research should
move. Moreover, the study highlights which methodological shortcomings are still existent in the re-
patriation literature and shows that a differentiated viewpoint on repatriates like in the expatriation
literature is still in an embryonic stage in the repatriation research. Finally, it contributes to the repatri-
ation research by deducing valuable recommendations for future research.
1. Introduction
In the current era of rapid business globalization, the relevance of international assignments has
strongly increased (Andresen and Margenfeld, 2015; Dickmann and Harris, 2005; Downes and
Thomas, 2000; Ren et al., 2015). Many organizations have recognized that international assignments
play a crucial role in developing global competencies, implementing successful international business
strategies and securing competitive advantages (Kraimer et al., 2009; Ren et al., 2015). Thus, it is not
surprising to see that 75% of the companies surveyed in the latest Global Relocation Trends Report
expected the number of international assignees to either increase or remain the same (Brookfield
Global Relocation Services, 2016). While organizations have quite a comprehensive understanding of
the challenges employees experience when going abroad and how they can more effectively manage
these experiences, they know much less about the challenges of homecoming expatriates (Kraimer et
al., 2012). One reason for this is the assumption that expatriates who return to their familiar home
country may not encounter the same severe challenges they had faced when adjusting to a foreign
country. In general, the return to the home country (repatriation) represents the final phase of an inter-
national assignment for the vast majority of expatriates, a phase however, that can be as disorienting
and frustrating for employees as the actual international assignment. In fact, it is frequently argued that
repatriation issues are often more challenging, more insidious and widely underestimated when com-
pared to those experienced during expatriation (O’Sullivan, 2013). Due to manifold reasons (e.g. in-
sufficient organizational support, missing career prospects, protean career attitudes, etc.) the transition
from expatriation to repatriation frequently ends in repatriates leaving their organizations to explore
external job opportunities (Kraimer et al., 2012; Szkudlarek and Sumpter, 2015). Empirical evidence
confirms that more than 50% of international assignee turnover happen within the first two years after
their repatriation (Brookfield Global Relocation Services, 2015).
The high turnover of repatriates is particularly damaging for organizations, as they lose the em-
ployee’s recently acquired global competences (Valk et al., 2015). Moreover, repatriates who decide
to leave their organization often take positions in competing firms (Lazarova and Caligiuri, 2001).
Finally, the signals that stem from dissatisfied repatriates may weaken the desire of other employees to
1
accept international assignments in the future (Feldman and Tompson, 1993; Kraimer et al., 2012).
Consequently, MNCs who want to capitalize on the international experience and expertise that resides
within their homecoming expatriates should consider repatriation retention as a serious challenge.
Compared to expatriation research, research on repatriation issues is far more limited in scope and
abundance and still takes in a rather undifferentiated perspective (Furuya, Stevens, Bird, Oddou, and
Mendenhall, 2009). While the research field of repatriation witnessed a rapid development in the last
decade, covering issues of repatriates’ re-entry adjustment (Furuya et al., 2007; Wu et al., 2014), re-
patriate turnover (Birur and Muthiah, 2013; McNulty et al., 2013), expectations and commitment (Cho
et al., 2013; Pate and Scullion, 2010), knowledge transfer (Burmeister and Deller, 2016; Santosh and
Muthiah, 2012) and HR strategies (Linehan and Scullion, 2002a; Pattie et al., 2010), repatriation re-
search is still scattered and has only recently started to adopt a nuanced viewpoint, which is already
present in the expatriation literature. In fact, the expatriation literature has increasingly considered the
particular circumstances of female expatriates, dual-career couples, consequences related to different
types of assignments (e.g. short-term assignments, self-initiated expatriation, inpatriation), whereas
repatriation research is still in an embryonic stage concerning these matters, despite some recent ad-
vancements (e.g. for female repatriates please see: Linehan and Scullion, 2002a; 200b; Scullion and
Linehan, 2002; Valk et al., 2014).
Lately, a number of literature reviews have been published with the aim of highlighting the ad-
vancement in repatriation research and of paving the way for further studies (Baruch et al., 2016;
Breitenmoser and Bader, 2016; Caligiuri and Bonache, 2016; Greer and Stiles, 2016; Kraimer et al.,
2016; Szkudlarek, 2010). Szkudlarek (2010) conducted the first literature review on repatriation with a
specific focus on the re-entry process of a broad set of returning sojourners including repatriating
spouses, students, missionaries, Peace Corps volunteers, third-culture kids and returning migrants
apart from corporate repatriates. In contrast to this perspective on various types of returning individu-
als, Greer and Stiles (2016) provide a systematic literature review of traditional homecoming corporate
expatriates and focus on corporate human resource development (HRD) functions, such as training and
development, career development, and organization development, whereas Breitenmoser and Bader
(2016) review the current state of repatriation literature from a corporate ROI-perspective, in which
2
they focus on different repatriation outcomes. Baruch et al. (2016) review the advancement of career
mobility and include literature on both expatriation and repatriation. Caligiuri and Bonache (2016)
analyze enduring and evolving issues in global mobility research by focusing on economic, competi-
tive, and demographic aspects. Finally, the 100 most cited articles in expatriation and repatriation re-
search were analyzed by Kraimer et al. (2016). It becomes apparent that previous literature reviews
have focused on particular perspectives (Breitenmoser and Bader, 2016), covered all phases of interna-
tional assignments (e.g. expatriation and repatriation) (Baruch et al., 2016; Caligiuri and Bonache,
2016; Kraimer et al., 2016) or applied a universal perspective by including various groups of assignees
(e.g. migrants) (Szkudlarek, 2010) in their analysis. While these works undoubtedly help to advance
the literature stream on repatriation, a comprehensive review of the repatriate literature considering
methodological aspects and a more differentiated viewpoint (e.g. assignment forms, types of assign-
ees) on repatriation is still missing.
Based on the practical relevance of the topic and the identified research gap, the objective of this
study is to systematically review the literature on repatriation issues from the lens of the ecological
systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1977, 1979) in order to identify what research topics and levels of
analysis have been addressed so far and where avenues of future research lay. In particular, this study
addresses the following research questions:
• What is the general level of emphasis on repatriation in management journals?
• What is the primary content of the relevant articles?
• Which theories are applied to analyze repatriation?
• What is the general methodological background and what analytical approaches are employed?
The remainder of this study is structured as follows: In the first section of the study, the research
methodology and strategy on how to identify the relevant journal articles that deal with repatriation
issues are defined and presented. Next, the employed coding scheme of the included articles is de-
scribed and each of the above-mentioned research questions is addressed. In the last section, the find-
ings are summarized, the results are interpreted and implications for future academic research on re-
patriation are deduced.
3
2. Methodology
2.1. Research Approach
A systematic literature review was selected as the proper methodological approach for two reasons:
First, it is thorough, explicit, and reproducible for identifying, evaluating, and describing the extant
body of literature (Fink, 2014). Second, a systematic literature review helps to generate knowledge by
incorporating a broad set of existing articles, which goes beyond the analysis of recent publications
(Cooper, 2009). Finally, systematic literature reviews are well-established in the international HR lit-
erature (Altman and Shortland, 2008; Breitenmoser and Bader, 2016; Doherty, 2013). To make use of
these advantages, the systematic literature review approach comprises four steps and discusses the
criteria of time horizon, database, journal, and article selection before the identified journal articles are
coded and analyzed.
Time horizon for selection of papers: In order to capture a comprehensive picture of the develop-
ment in repatriation research, the study did not set a particular year as a starting point. The year 2016
was chosen as the endpoint in order to include the latest academic journal publications.
Selection of databases: In order to provide a comprehensive view on the repatriation literature, this
study relies on two well-established online databases as search tools to identify appropriate journal
publications (Fink, 2014). EBSCO and ABI/INFORM Complete were chosen, as both are well-
established with 375 full-text and research databases available (e.g. EBSCO covers 8492 journals &
magazines in full text, ABI/INFORM covers 8599 journals & magazines in full text). This searching
procedure is broadly acknowledged and was used in earlier literature reviews in related fields (Altman
and Shortland, 2008; Breitenmoser and Bader, 2016; Doherty, 2013).
Journal selection: The study focuses on published peer-reviewed journal articles in order to ensure
the high quality of the articles analyzed in this review (Light and Pillemer, 1984). Moreover, not a
single academic journal in this literature review was excluded in order to provide a broad overview of
research articles on repatriation.
Article selection: To create a reproducible and transparent analysis a systematic article selection
process was followed as outlined in Figure 1. First, keywords were defined as search criteria in online
4
databases. As the study was aiming to generate a broad and comprehensive picture of the state-of-the-
art more general search terms were selected. To be more precise, the combined search terms “Repat*”
in the abstract and “Assign*” in the full-text as well as “Repat*” in the abstract and “Expat*” in the
full-text in both databases were used in order to ensure the identification of all relevant articles in re-
patriation research. The result was a preliminary sample of 347 journal articles in the EBSCO database
and 432 in the ABI/INFORM Complete database – resulting in a total of 779 articles as a preliminary
sample.
In a second step, duplicates were eliminated to avoid double counting. For the same reason, litera-
ture reviews were excluded, resulting in 405 articles. Subsequently, the authors read the titles and ab-
stracts independently to judge the relevance of journal articles regarding repatriation. Articles with
non-relevant topics were excluded to ensure consistent focus and reduce bias. As follows, articles had
to show a clear connection between repatriation and international assignments. For instance, articles
which deal with topics such as taxation (e.g. Comment, 2015; Wilkinson and Noga, 2007) or repatria-
tion of displaced people and refugees (e.g. Oyen, 2015) were excluded as they did not fulfil the search
criteria. Finally, articles with a clear focus on the expatriation phase, but only mention repatriation
issues briefly were also excluded (Osland and Osland, 2005; Shen and Kram, 2011). The extraction
process resulted in a total of 96 scientific peer-reviewed journal articles that focus on repatriation is-
sues and cover a time span of 43 years. These articles were included in the literature analysis to ensure
the high quality and scope of this review.
------------------------------------------
Figure 1 goes about here
------------------------------------------
2.2. Coding of Journal articles
In accordance to the study’s research questions, a set of six superior criteria were developed for as-
sessing the articles in order to achieve the underlying research goals. First, in order to gain a general
understanding of the development in this research field, the authors investigate when and in which
outlets articles on repatriation have been published so far. Second, as the authors are particularly inter-
5
ested in the research content of repatriation research they take in an ecological systems theoretical lens
(Bronfenbrenner, 1977, 1979), which argues that different systems exist with which individuals (e.g.
repatriates) interact in order to systematically analyze the identified studies. The analysis from the
ecological systems theoretical lens makes it possible to grasp an understanding for the depth of repat-
riation research, to compare findings and to uncover pervasive shortcomings. Third, the authors intend
to understand which theories were applied in repatriation research. Forth, the study explores to which
extent repatriation research picked up a differentiated viewpoint from the expatriation research such as
female assignees, dual-career couples, and alternative forms of international assignments (e.g. short-
term assignments, self-initiated expatriation, and inpatriation). Fifth, all articles were analyzed accord-
ing to the applied methodologies (conceptual, qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods approaches)
with the goal to explore how repatriation research had been conducted and if any methodological types
had been favored. Sixth, to explore the employed analysis of the identified articles, the authors inves-
tigate the sources of data collection and differentiate between individual level of data collection (repat-
riates or spouses), organizational level of data collection (HR managers, supervisors or organizations),
and designs that incorporate both levels. By doing so, the authors are able to outline whether repatriate
research considers the level of data collection according to the analyzed ecological systems. Addition-
ally, the study intends to understand preferences in statistical methods, which were applied in empiri-
cal articles. In this matter, the authors distinguish between quantitative methods (e.g. regression analy-
sis, structural equation modelling, and mean comparison) and qualitative methods (e.g. content analy-
sis, participant observation, diary studies, and document analysis). Moreover, the authors examine the
time horizon of the studies (cross-sectional, longitudinal), report given information in the studies on
the repatriates’ return (time point of survey) as well as the use of mirrored research designs (inclusion
of expatriates/repatriates and HR managers). The study’s target in this matter is to identify clear pref-
erences in employed analysis, which allows deriving gaps and implications for designing future empir-
ical research in the field of repatriation.
Both authors had coded all articles independently and t discussed he results afterwards for agree-
ment in order to ensure intersubjectivity.
6
3. Results
3.1. Level of Emphasis in Management Journals
In order to assess the level of emphasis of repatriation research in management journals, the authors
analyzed when and where articles on repatriation had been published. The first article on repatriation
had been published in 1973, whereas explicit research on repatriation started in the 1980s and in-
creased in relevance in the 1990s, but remained on a low level with only five publications prior to
1990. Six articles were published between 1990 and 1994 and eight were published from 1995 to
1999. Since 2000, the number of publications has continuously increased with 19 publications in the
period of 2000-2004, 29 publications between 2005 and 2009 and 29 publications since 2010. The
peak of published articles on repatriation was in 2013 with 12 articles, outlining a steady expansion of
the repatriation literature over the years.
With regard to the publication outlets, the results show that articles on repatriation were mainly
published in HR- and IB-related journals, but also found their way into journals from other disciplines
such as General Management and Strategy, Knowledge Management, or Psychology – underlining
that repatriation is a topic of multidisciplinary interest. The key publication outlets were International
Journal of Human Resource Management (IJHRM) with 15 articles, Journal of International Business
Studies (JIBS) with 7 articles, International Journal of Manpower (IJM) with 7 articles, Human Re-
source Management (HRM) with 6 articles and Journal of World Business (JWB), Career Develop-
ment International (CDI), and Journal of Global Mobility (JGM) each with 5 articles. This accounts
for 52% (50 of 96) of all analyzed articles.
3.2. Research Content
In order to systematically analyze the research content of the identified articles the authors employ an
ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1977, 1979), which helps to better understand multilevel
determinants of repatriation outcomes. The ecological systems theory argues that different systems
exist with which an individual (e.g. the repatriate) interacts (Neal and Neal, 2013). To be more precise,
apart from the individual (intrapersonal aspects) - e.g. the repatriate who represents the epicenter of
7
the theoretical framework - it covers the microsystem (interpersonal aspects), mesosystem (intercon-
nections between systems), exosystem (organizational aspects), macrosystem (technological, cultural
and institutional aspects), and chronosystem (time-related aspects), each having a potential effect on
repatriation outcomes. As those outcomes might be ascribed to different actors in the repatriation pro-
cess, a differentiation between firm- and employee-related repatriation outcomes is suggested. In terms
of firm-related outcomes, factors such as reduced turnover, job performance and repatriate knowledge
transfer are considered in the repatriation literature. Outcomes that affect the individual employee are
repatriate adjustment, career satisfaction and psychological well-being among others (please see
Breitenmoser and Bader 2016 for an excellent overview of repatriation outcomes). Figure 2 displays
the different layers of the ecological systems theory and provides an overview of the relevant factors
in the context of repatriation.
------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
Individual (intrapersonal factors). The individual, e.g. the repatriate is located in the center of the
ecological systems theory. This “layer” focuses on intrapersonal factors that influence repatriation
outcomes. The repatriation literature includes a broad set of intrapersonal factors covering demograph-
ic attributes (e.g. age, gender, nationality, educational level, organizational tenure, and international
experience), psychographic attributes (e.g. motives, personality, and cultural identity), and behavioral
attributes (e.g. coping behavior, proactive career development behavior, and feedback seeking behav-
ior) to explain repatriation outcomes. Looking at demographic attributes, Black (1994) reveals when
analyzing Japanese repatriates that older assignees compared to younger ones were able to readjust
more easily to Japan because of their existing professional network. However, this finding stands in
stark contrast to Gregersen and Stroh (1997) who illustrated that older Finnish repatriates showed a
lower level of readjustment to their home country compared to their younger counterparts. A couple of
studies investigated the effect of time spent abroad (number of assignment and duration) on critical
repatriation outcomes. For example, Tahir and Azhar (2013) have found a negative impact of assign-
ment duration on the readjustment process of repatriates. In a similar way, assignees with multiple
8
international assignments (in particular those who completed two to four assignments) encounter chal-
lenges in their career advancement upon repatriation as they might be considered as “permanent expat-
riates” (Kraimer et al. 2009). With regard to psychographic attributes, Furuya et al. (2009) for instance
show that intercultural personality traits of individuals do not only have a supporting role during ex-
patriation, but also in terms of repatriate knowledge transfer. According to the conceptual work of
Oddou et al. (2009), the possession of a global mindset has been identified as one of the key drivers of
knowledge transfer upon repatriation. In terms of behavioral attributes, Lazarova and Cerdin (2007)
found that selective types of proactive career development behavior (e.g. advice and interventions,
outside information gathering) lead to an increased intention to leave among repatriates, whereas stra-
tegic planning lowers the turnover intentions. Another conceptual model highlights the meaning of
feedback-seeking behavior as it might increase the knowledge transfer in MNEs (Crowne, 2009).
Microsystem (interpersonal factors). The microsystem covers the repatriate’s immediate environ-
ment, e.g. the direct social network of the individual and includes different actors such as family
members, peers, supervisors, subordinates, and friends with whom the repatriate interacts. Concerning
the microsystem, it became apparent that the repatriation literature focuses on family members,
whereas other actors in the repatriate’s immediate social environment (e.g. supervisors, peers, etc.) are
widely neglected. Covered family-related aspects are trailing spouses and children, spouse adjustment
and family assistance programs. For example, Liu (2005) showed that accompanying family members,
such as trailing spouses increase a repatriate’s turnover intention due to difficulties when all accompa-
nying family members have to readjust simultaneously to the home country. Cho et al. (2013) are one
of the few who highlight the importance of children within the context of repatriation. In their qualita-
tive study based on a Korean sample, they show that the readjustment of children is easier at a younger
age, otherwise they might fall behind at school upon return. Moreover, they outline that family assis-
tance programs are hardly offered by the organization, as repatriates do not feel a strong desire for
such programs. One reason for this is that nowadays various technologies allow assigned during their
stay abroad to keep in touch with their social network back home (Cho et al., 2013). Another study by
Black and Gregersen (1999) reveals that assignees’ and trailing spouses’ readjustments are significant-
ly related to each other and thus underline the importance that companies do not only consider the
9
repatriate himself/herself in their decision making but to include the repatriates’ microsystem (e.g.
family members) as well.
Mesosystem (interconnections). According to Bronfenbrenner (1988) the mesosystem comprises
the linkages and processes taking place within and across systems. Moreover, it covers the behavior of
workgroups and teams, which often stretch across different organizational units (Rousseau and House,
1994). In other words, the mesosystem goes beyond dyad or two-party relations, but looks at the inter-
connections of two or more systems’ constituents which are related to the repatriate - such as interac-
tions between spouse and children or supervisor and workgroup members. This means that the
mesosystem especially considers spillover and crossover effects, which have direct or indirect effects
on the repatriate. Aspects in the repatriation literature that are connected to the mesosystem are work-
family conflicts, social referencing and psychological contract breach. In a qualitative study, Kulkarni
et al. (2010) present that work-family issues can have both positive and negative consequences for the
repatriation process. For instance, they outline that children do not only have often difficulties to read-
just to new education systems, but also consider differences in service levels, lifestyles and extra work
opportunities as tough challenges. The challenges that children experience upon return can cause pres-
sures on the family role of the repatriate, which in turn can have unfavorable effects on the repatriate’s
work role. Guo and colleagues (2013) promote the idea of social referencing, which can be understood
as an iterative and ongoing process through which repatriates integrate contextual factors into their
experiences. The authors reveal that repatriates often incorporate the thoughts and wishes of different
reference groups such as family members, friends, colleagues as well as the broader society into their
respective sense of purpose or motivation. Ren et al. (2013) explore the effects of psychological con-
tract breach by using a sample of repatriates from five US-based MNCs. Their study emphasizes that
psychological contract breach with regard to pay unfolds a negative effect on career satisfaction upon
return. In another study based on Saudi Arabian repatriates, Aldossari and Robertson (2016) highlight
that there is often a strong incongruity of the promise-obligation exchange between repatriates on their
organizations and outline the importance of considering national cultural values. While those studies
only consider the parent company as the counterparty of the psychological contract, recent advance-
ments in the psychological contract and expatriation literature show that multiple actors (supervisors,
10
workgroup members, HR professionals) can have own psychological contracts with the repatriate
(Kumarika Perera et al., 2016; Rousseau, 2010) – outlining interactions between different actors.
Exosystem (organizational factors). The exosystem describes the environment that can only ‘indi-
rectly’ be influenced by repatriates. In this study, all organizational factors are considered to be the
exosystem because repatriates do not have an active influence on them in general. Nonetheless, organ-
izational factors, which have been extensively studied in the repatriation literature, strongly influence
repatriation outcomes and behavior of repatriates. Organizational factors that have regularly been in-
cluded in repatriation research are different HR practices such as repatriation policies (Bossard and
Peterson, 2005; Furuya et al., 2009; Kulkarni et al., 2010), staffing approaches (Furuya et al., 2007;
Kang and Shen, 2013), communication-related aspects (Cox, 2004; Vidal et al., 2010) and repatriation
assistance programs (Cho et al., 2013; Lazarova and Caligiuri, 2001; Lazarova and Cerdin, 2007;
Stroh, 1995) among others. While there are few studies, if any, that exclusively focus on organization-
al factors, a number of studies incorporate various factors of the exosystem to analyze their impact on
firm-related and employee-related outcomes such as repatriate career success (Zikic et al., 2006), in-
tention to stay (Gonçalves das Neves et al., 2014; Hyder and Lövblad, 2007; Kraimer et al., 2012), job
satisfaction (Morgan et al., 2004; Stevens et al., 2006), and cultural readjustment (Black et al., 1992;
Gregersen and Stroh, 1997; Tahir and Azhar, 2013). For instance, the study of Bailey and Dragoni
(2013) reports that 40% of surveyed companies employ different support practices. These practices
cover aspects of job placement upon return, training, communication and networking. However, repat-
riates perceive repatriation support practices only to a limited extent (Baruch et al., 2002; Jassawalla et
al., 2004; Osman-Gani and Hyder, 2008). For instance, in an explorative study, Kulkarni et al. (2010)
outline that repatriates frequently consider the formal repatriation assistance as insufficient. Moreover,
they show that organizations often have no contact person in the HR department who helps with repat-
riation and that re-entry culture-related trainings are frequently missing. In contrast to these results, the
study of Cho et al. (2013) highlight that Korean repatriates do not feel a need for support practices. In
addition, Bailey and Dragoni (2013) conclude that support practices seem to have only a weak impact
on the repatriates’ willingness to return to their home country. In contrast, Linehan and Scullion
(2002a) underline the importance of mentoring during the repatriation stage. They report of female
11
repatriated mentors who demonstrate the chance to balance job and family life. The empirical study of
Birur and Muthiah (2013) implies that organizational support has a reducing effect on turnover inten-
tions among Indian repatriates, a finding that is in line with other studies (Lazarova and Cerdin, 2007).
Burmeister and Deller (2016) provide evidence that training, job design, non-financial rewards and
targeted internal communication mechanisms among others were highly relevant for repatriates’
knowledge transfer, whereas selection and staffing and financial compensation were not seen as rele-
vant by the repatriates and HR practitioners in their sample.
Macrosystem (technological, cultural and institutional settings). The macrosystem covers techno-
logical elements, cultural values, customs, and norms as well as institutional factors. The ecological
systems theory emphasizes that the effects of the macrosystem have a cascading influence on all other
systems and thus will have an indirect influence on repatriation outcomes and behavior as well. While
the expatriation literature commonly includes factors from the macrosystem – most prominently cul-
tural distance between the expatriates’ home and host country culture, the repatriation literature
scarcely picks up on those factors. In fact, only a few studies have included culture-related aspects
such as cultural novelty so far. Exceptions are, for instance, Tahir and Azhar (2013) who investigate
the effects of cultural novelty on repatriation adjustment. Their empirical qualitative study reveals that
the majority of respondents faced difficulties upon return, as they had not expected that changes had
taken place in their home environment during their absence. In contrast, Black and Gregersen (1991)
find no relationships between cultural novelty and various facets of readjustment at all. In addition to
those findings, there are signs which suggest that the transition from a country with low standards of
living to a country with higher standards is easier than vice versa (Kulkarni et al., 2010). Moreover,
Valk et al. (2015) introduce a repatriation process model that incorporates macro-economic conditions
into the home country when interpreting turnover intentions among repatriates. They show that due to
poor macro-economic conditions and fewer employment opportunities, Dutch repatriates are more
likely to quit and continue their career abroad. In contrast to this finding, Indian repatriates are more
likely to stay in India after their return due to prosperous economic conditions and career growth op-
portunities inside the organization. In recent years, the impact of technology on repatriation has gained
in relevance in research articles. Particularly, the conceptual research article by O’Sullivan (2013)
12
sheds more light on the empowering potential of social media for key stakeholders in the repatriation
process. She proves that the use of social media unfolds an empowering effect on the repatriation pro-
cess in various ways (e.g. access to mentoring supports). By asking 101 US-American missionaries,
Cox (2004) finds positive correlations of various forms of technological mass media use (e.g. movies,
television, music) on repatriation satisfaction and home culture identification. In contrast, Morgan et
al. (2004) are not able to reveal a significant relationship between the technological sophistication of
the home office and satisfaction with repatriation.
Chronosystem (time-related factors). The chronosystem encompasses the dimension of time relat-
ing to the overall expatriation process (pre-departure, expatriation, post-return). According to Bron-
fenbrenner (1994) it comprises changes and consistencies over time of both the characteristics of the
person and the environment in which the person lives (e.g. changes over the life course in family
structure, status, employment, place of residence). Accordingly, the chronosystem takes in a promi-
nent role when analyzing the repatriate’s readjustment process as the level of readjustment strongly
changes over time, e.g. during different repatriation phases, as illustrated by the W-curve (Gullahorn
and Gullahorn, 1963). Moreover, there are strong links between the chronosystem and expectation-
related and career-related research of the repatriation literature. For instance, the study of Starr (2009)
reveals that homecoming expatriates from short-term assignments went through a personal transfor-
mation and that their experiences during the international assignment had influenced their expectations
regarding their career development. The fulfillment of expectations had further positive impacts on
reducing turnover intentions and fostering the acquisition of new potential expatriates (Starr, 2009).
Vidal et al. (2010) recommend keeping up the communication between assignees and the sending
company during the international assignment in order to have a positive impact on the expectation
regarding the future job environment. As expatriates usually perceive a higher social status abroad,
Black and Gregersen (1991) investigated the impact of a social status change over time upon return
and find a negative effect on the repatriate’s work and general readjustment.
Table 1 once again outlines the different systems of the ecological systems theory and provides an
overview of the related factors that have been considered in the repatriation literature so far.
13
------------------------------------------
Table 1 goes about here
------------------------------------------
3.3. Theoretical Framework
The analysis of 96 articles reveals the use of 29 different theories. Surprisingly, the literature review
shows 41 articles that are not explicitly based on any theoretical background. Cultural adjustment
(e.g. the readjustment framework developed by Black et al. (1992)) is the most applied theory (22 out
of 96 articles). Moreover, eight articles use the boundaryless career theory, four articles employ the
psychological contract theory and three use the human capital theory. Seven articles incorporate mul-
tiple theories, such as stress coping theory and cultural adjustment (Herman and Tetrick, 2009) or so-
cial resources theory and social exchange theory (Reiche, 2012). In relation to time, it is concluded
that the application of theoretical grounding has dropped in repatriation research since 2010 (14 out of
30 articles). Figure 3 depicts the employed theoretical frameworks in repatriation research. In line with
Szkudlarek’s observation (2010), it can be concluded that only a small number of repatriation theories
or frameworks exist that have been developed explicitly with regard to international assignments such
as the repatriation adjustment framework by Black et al. (1992). Instead the majority of applied theo-
ries had been developed in other disciplines, but were adapted to the repatriation of international as-
signees (e.g. resource-based view, role theory, and media richness theory).
------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
3.4. Consideration of the Differentiated Viewpoint of the Expatriate Literature
In recent years, an increasing number of scholars in the expatriate field have acknowledged the short-
comings of a ‘one size fit all’ approach and have emphasized a more differentiated view on expatria-
tion (e.g. assignment forms, types of assignees). Four specific differentiation aspects have recently
found their way in the expatriation literature that advanced our understanding of the phenomenon and
14
helped to develop more accurate recommendations for companies to optimize their expatriation poli-
cies. In fact, the expatriation literature distinguishes between female expatriates (Salamin and
Davoine, 2015; Shen and Jiang, 2015), dual-career aspects (Känsälä et al., 2015), alternative forms of
expatriation such as short-term assignments, flexpatriates or international business travelers (Crowley-
Henry and Heaslip, 2014; Crowne and Engle, 2016), inpatriates (Reiche, 2012) and self-initiated ex-
patriates (Froese, 2012; Pinto and Araújo, 2016). Finally, team-based international assignments, which
occur when several individuals are sent as a team to work in a foreign location, have been considered
as a novel assignment type in the expatriation literature (O’Sullivan and O’Sullivan, 2008).
In the repatriation literature, it can be recognized that these aspects have found only limited atten-
tion. While eight out of 96 articles in the repatriation literature focus on female repatriates (Culpan and
Wright, 2002; Harvey, 1997; Linehan and Scullion, 2002a; 2002b; Schuetter and Boerner, 2013;
Scullion and Linehan, 2002; Tahir and Azhar, 2013; Valk et al., 2014), only one study considers dual-
career aspects in the repatriation context (Harvey, 1997). In a similar way, only five studies were iden-
tified that deal with the repatriation process of self-initiated expatriates (Begley et al., 2008; Dickmann
and Doherty, 2008; Forstenlechner, 2010; Tharenou and Caulfield, 2010; Valk et al., 2014) and only
one study that focuses on the repatriation process of inpatriates (Reiche, 2012). Finally, even though
repatriation literature emphasizes that the length of an international assignment is a crucial factor for
the repatriation process, only one study explicitly focuses on short-term assignments (Starr, 2009). In
this context, it becomes apparent that a large part of quantitative research on repatriation does not even
control for the duration of the past (most recent) international assignment (19 out of 48 quantitative
studies).
3.5. Employed Methodology
The applied methodological approaches of the reviewed articles were examined by differentiating
between conceptual, qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches. The analysis shows that
the majority of analyzed papers are empirical in nature (76 out of 96 articles) with a strong focus on
quantitative methodologies (43 out of 76 articles) (e.g. Jayasekara and Takahashi, 2014; Muthiah and
Santosh, 2015). Twenty-seven papers apply an empirical qualitative research approach (e.g. Valk et
15
al., 2013; Vidal et al., 2007a), while six articles employ a mixed-method design by combining a quan-
titative and qualitative methodology (e.g. Burmeister and Deller, 2016; Osman-Gani and Hyder,
2008). Finally, 20 articles in the sample are conceptual in nature, such as the seminal work by Black et
al. (1992), who introduce the framework of readjustment among repatriates. With regard to time of
publication, it can be concluded that empirical qualitative studies have gained in relevance lately, as
14 of 27 qualitative studies were published between 2010 and 2016, whereas the number of conceptual
papers dropped from nine (2005-2009) to three (2010-2016). On the contrary, the number of quantita-
tive studies rose in the 2000s and has remained on a high level with 13 articles from 2005-2009 and 11
articles since 2010 (Figure 4). To sum up, the analysis illustrates that the use of a mixed-method de-
sign is still an exception in the field of repatriation research. Nonetheless, the results indicate that re-
patriation research has started to mature as a large share of the published articles aim at testing the
assumptions developed in previous conceptual and empirical qualitative studies. A possible reason for
the relatively small number of qualitative studies is the higher expenditure of time (e.g. conducting
interviews), which could discourage scholars from conducting explorative studies. Moreover, in the
past many journals preferred quantitative rather than qualitative articles due to the higher objective-
ness of the interpreted data. The small number of articles using a mixed-method design might be the
result of similar cost reasons and the reluctance of reviewers who mostly favor either quantitative or
qualitative methodological approaches. In the discussion section, we outline the advantages of certain
neglected research methods (e.g. mixed-methods) for repatriation research.
------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
3.6. Employed Analysis
With regard to employed analysis, the authors were especially interested in the data origin (e.g. from
which sources the information were collected), the applied statistical method, the use of a longitudinal
research design, information on the time point of survey and mirrored research design. The analysis
concerning the sources of data collection shows 82% of the empirical articles in the sample collected
16
data on the individual level (e.g. repatriates or spouses) (62 out of the 76 empirical articles), whereas
only five articles collected data on the organizational level (e.g. from organizational actors such as HR
managers or supervisors) and nine articles collected data from sources of both, the individual and or-
ganizational level. Moreover, it became apparent that three out of five articles that collected data on
the organizational level and six out of nine articles that integrated data from both levels were explora-
tive in nature (empirical qualitative studies) as illustrated in Figure 5. Considering the ecological sys-
tems theory it might be reasonable to choose sources of data collection that correspond to the ecologi-
cal system a study is investigating (e.g. considering data from HR managers or supervisors when deal-
ing with questions about the exosystem).
------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
The analysis reveals that most of the empirical qualitative studies used semi-structured interviews
for data collection (24 out of 27 qualitative studies), whereas eight studies combined interviews within
a case study context. All qualitative studies used content analysis. However, alternative forms of em-
pirical qualitative research, such as the use of participant observation or document analysis (Aldossari
and Robertson, 2016) or focus group discussion (Begley et al., 2008) have only scarcely found their
way into repatriation research yet. The time-related analysis emphasizes the increasing use of case
study approaches within qualitative research with the aim to depict more practice-oriented examples.
Moreover, the analysis shows that the majority of the quantitative studies employed multiple linear
regressions and focused on testing only direct effects (22 out of 43 quantitative studies). In addition to
this, four more quantitative studies employed a moderated regression analysis, one used a mediated
regression analysis and six studies employed a structural equation modelling approach as reported in
Figure 6.
In general terms, the results indicate that repatriation research mainly focused on direct effects while
boundary conditions and contextual factors were scarcely looked at. In a time-related analysis, it be-
came apparent that the use of more sophisticated analysis methods (e.g. moderated regression or struc-
17
tural equation modelling) has recently become more common with the aim to account for boundary
conditions and to test more complex frameworks.
------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
Finally, it appears that repatriation research also lacks other aspects of advanced survey designs. In
fact, only four articles were found that used a longitudinal research design, whereas all the others were
based on cross-sectional data. However, longitudinal studies have recently attracted scholarly atten-
tion, as three out of four longitudinal studies were published between 2010 and 2016. Moreover, the
majority of analyzed empirical articles do not provide detailed information on the time point of the
survey (57 articles), whereas nine articles present arithmetic means and five articles classified different
periods of time since return. Moreover, the analysis shows that only 11 articles controlled for time
since return in their quantitative analysis. With regard to a mirrored research design, it is shown that
out of the 49 quantitative studies, 43 articles relied on data from a single source – the repatriate. In
other words, only six studies incorporated data from additional sources. Exceptions to this are the
studies of Black and Gregersen (1991), Gomez-Mejía and Balkin (1987), Gregersen and Stroh (1997),
and Harvey (1997) that used data from repatriates and their accompanying spouses, whereas Furuya
and colleagues (2009) surveyed repatriates and their respective supervisors. Finally, Benson and Pattie
(2008) surveyed repatriates, expatriates and domestic employees to compare current compensation,
promotions and recruiting contacts. To conclude, the extant field in repatriation research hardly allows
for causal relationships due to a lack of longitudinal research designs. Moreover, the current under-
standing of repatriation is limited to the perception of repatriates as most articles did not consider the
perspectives of other important actors within the repatriates’ environment.
4. Discussion
This literature review outlined that the repatriation literature already covers a broad set of ecological
systems with various determinants of repatriation outcomes. However, a closer look at those articles
reveals that several aspects from an ecological systems theoretical perspective are underrepresented
18
(e.g. issues concerning the micro-, meso-, macro- and chronosystem) and by analyzing methodological
issues it has become apparent that the repatriation literature does not sufficiently handle the complexi-
ty of the repatriation phenomenon, which needs to be reconsidered in future studies. In the subsequent
section, the analyzed set of ecological systems will be discussed and recommendations for further
research will be derived.
4.1. Individual (intrapersonal factors) – Consideration of Contextual Elements and Alternative
Qualitative Approaches
This literature review revealed a focus of the repatriation literature on a number of intrapersonal fac-
tors affecting repatriation outcomes, which covers demographic, psychographic and behavioral attrib-
utes in order to explain repatriation outcomes. However, as outlined above, a differentiated viewpoint
(e.g. returning female repatriates, self-initiated assignees, inpatriates) of repatriation research is still in
an embryonic stage. Taking in a differentiated viewpoint is important, as repatriation experiences
largely differ across different types of repatriates and their respective international assignment forms.
For instance, Linehan and Scullion (2002a) outline that female repatriates experience greater uncer-
tainty during the repatriation phase as they are often in a pioneering role. Moreover, Linehan and Scul-
lion (2002b) highlight additional problems of female repatriates because they are often excluded from
the ‘old boy’ networks, which still predominate in many organizations and argue that their exclusion
from business and social networks leads to isolation and prevents them to establish useful networking
relationships, which would be advantageous for their repatriation. This example clearly illustrates that
it is recommendable to further delve into those topics in order to get a more accurate understanding of
distinctive features of different types of repatriates and to provide target-group-oriented recommenda-
tions for HR practices and policies on how to deal with them.
For instance, research could address differences in expectations, perceptions, and readjustment
among male and female repatriates as well as their way to deal with dissatisfaction upon return. In
addition, it is suggested that future studies should consider specific types of assignments in the repatri-
ation context (e.g. self-initiated expatriation, short-term assignments, and returning inpatriates) to
deepen our understanding of intrapersonal factors. Concerning this matter, the length and purpose of
19
assignments could play an important role in answering whether proactive career development behav-
iors will lead to a higher turnover. Moreover, as Starr (2009) concludes that the standard expatriate
framework seems insufficient for meeting the different challenges that short-term assignments present,
it seems reasonable to explore how the length of assignments will influence the relationship between
HR practices (e.g. repatriation policies, staffing approaches, communication, and assistance programs)
and outcomes (e.g. job satisfaction, career development, turnover, and job performance). The repatria-
tion of self-initiated assignees is another matter of interest. For instance, there is initial evidence that
self-initiated expatriates differ in their motives, cultural identity, and personality traits, which influ-
ence the patterns of why and how these assignees return and what kind of challenges they face back
home (Tharenou and Caulfield, 2010; Valk et al., 2014). Therefore, it could be worthwhile to explore
how organizations can optimize their support programs based on differences in motives, cultural iden-
tity, and personality traits in order to reintegrate those valuable employees successfully into the organ-
ization in the home country. If MNCs attributed value to the repatriation of this particular group of
employees, they might be able to create a multicultural workforce, which would be able to generate a
competitive advantage. Finally, it is emphasized that future research should analyze the repatriation
process of inpatriates as well with a special focus on career development. A reason for this is that it
can be expected that the career development of inpatriates are likely to differ from those of expatriates,
as the career paths of inpatriates from smaller foreign subsidiaries may be much more limited than in
the case of parent country expatriates returning to HQ.
Another finding of the review highlights the use of mainly semi-structured interviews within em-
pirical qualitative research approaches. The authors are convinced that other empirical qualitative ap-
proaches, such as observing participants (e.g. Lauring and Selmer, 2009), analyzing internet blogs or
diaries of repatriates would allow researchers to move beyond a generalized view on repatriation as
these approaches might come along with a number of advantages. For instance, participant observation
and diary studies will allow researchers to generate rich qualitative data, to get insights into “real” life
domains of individuals and to follow up different directions and ideas if anything interesting occurs.
This can help, for instance, to get a nuanced understanding of the impact of intrapersonal factors (e.g.
20
personality, coping behaviors, etc.) on repatriates’ readjustment or on the repatriates’ behavior when
interacting with new colleagues after their return.
4.2. Microsystem (interpersonal factors) – Consideration of perspectives from actors of the proxi-
mate environment
Due to the strong focus on the individual in repatriation research, it is not surprising that considering
the perspective of other actors in the repatriate’s proximate environment is scarce. In fact, the analysis
of the study design revealed that most empirical articles collected data from the repatriate. To a limited
extent, accompanying family members were used as an additional source for collecting data. However,
the microsystem of repatriates can have a significant effect on repatriation outcomes and the repatri-
ate’s behavior as outlined by Black and Gregersen (1999) – showing that an assignee’s and trailing
spouse’s readjustment are significantly related to each other. Moreover, repatriation of dual-career
couples is characterized by higher complexity as both employees are looking for adequate positions
when they return. However, frequently only one partner enjoys the benefit of a repatriation agreement,
while the other one must take care of his/her own relocation, which will increase the reluctance to
relocate to the next location (Riusala and Suutari, 2000). Thus, it is emphasized that future research
should pay more attention on dual-career couples and investigate, for instance, if trailing spouses who
did not work abroad face any difficulties when returning to the domestic job market, which in turn
might affect the behavior and performance of the repatriate. Another interesting aspect in this matter
would be to investigate how trailing partners keep their skills and knowledge up to date while being
abroad so that they can benefit from it upon repatriation. Finally, it would be interesting to explore
effects on the relationship of the dual-career couple if a trailing spouse perceives a throwback in career
upon return.
Interestingly, only a small share of the analyzed articles captures the perspective of other actors of
the repatriate’s microsystem (e.g. peers) outlining that research on the microsystem is still scattered
and limited. For instance, in terms of repatriate knowledge transfer it is very useful to incorporate the
perspective of the colleagues (e.g. recipient knowledge, learning capabilities) to get a more profound
understanding of repatriate knowledge transfer failure upon return (Burmeister and Deller, 2016). As a
21
result, the authors agitate for employing a mirrored research design as knowledge transfer processes
are complex, which requires a number of preconditions and a thorough analysis of the knowledge re-
cipients’ behavior. Thus, research should go beyond investigating the use of certain knowledge trans-
fer instruments and focus on the actual knowledge transfer process by incorporating the perspective of
different actors within the microsystem (e.g. repatriates, colleagues, supervisors) and thus contribute to
a better understanding of the repatriate’s microsystem.
4.3. Mesosystem (interconnections) - Considering accompanying children on their repatriation

experience
Similar to the findings regarding the microsystem, the authors found only a limited number of studies
that focus on the interconnections within or across systems. However, in order to be able to grasp a
thorough understanding of the complex underlying mechanisms like spillover and crossover effects
(e.g. work-family-conflicts), future studies should broaden their survey designs and collect data not
only from the repatriate but also from participating actors of the respective ecological system, consider
the organizational perspective, and account for technological, cultural as well as institutional condi-
tions. In contrast to expatriation research (O’Sullivan and O’Sullivan, 2008), the outstanding position
of team-based international assignments has not been explored in terms of repatriation, yet. However,
as team members differ in their behavior to individuals, it is worthwhile to grasp a better understand-
ing and to delve into those challenges (e.g. knowledge transfer) team members are facing when they
return home.
Another further valuable research area would be to include trailing children on their repatriation
experience in a work-family-conflict context and to explore spillover and crossover effects concerning
the repatriate’s family and work roles as studies lack in empirical primary data on this topic. Moreo-
ver, the authors call for a more thorough exploration of the psychological contract relationship. To
date, empirical studies have limited their investigation on the perceptions of repatriates without con-
sidering different counterparties, e.g. parent company, foreign subsidiary, supervisors, peers. Howev-
er, there is initial evidence of spillover effects in the psychological contract and expatriation literature
(Kumarika Perera et al., 2016; Rousseau, 2010). To be more precise, it is reasonable to assume that a
22
psychological contract breach of the parent company (e.g. career advancement after the international
assignment) might influence the repatriates’ perception of the psychological contract with their super-
visors, which in turn might lead to a change in behavior of repatriates towards their workgroup mem-
bers (e.g. a reduced organizational citizenship behavior). In this regard, it seems therefore advisable
that future studies should consider different counterparties of the psychological contract (mirrored
research design) and track the development of a psychological contract breach over time (longitudinal
research design) in order to get a better understanding of psychological contract breach sources, ante-
cedences, and consequences, which might help organizations to find and employ appropriate remedies.
4.4. Exosystem (organizational factors) – Consideration of the organizational perception of HR
instruments
The analysis has shown that only a limited number of studies in the repatriation literature collected
data on the organizational level (e.g. from organizational actors such as HR managers or supervisors),
which is surprising as a large part of the analyzed articles deal at least to some extent with the exosys-
tem by analyzing the effects of repatriation practices, strategies and policies. Based on these findings,
it is strongly recommended that future research should more frequently consider the organizational
perspective by collecting data from HR managers or supervisors when addressing the exosystem. This
means, that future research should not only rely on the repatriate’s perception, but control for the actu-
al employed HR practices, strategies and policies. By doing so, research can make valuable practical
implications as to why repatriates may perceive the employed HR instruments differently and how
organizations can install them more efficiently.
4.5. Macrosystem (technological, cultural, and institutional settings) - Consideration of the
changing environment
The analysis revealed a focus on culture-related themes within the macrosystem, whereas repatriation
research has neglected other meaningful topics, for instance, technological changes, which have
evolved and started to influence a vast number of life domains recently. Thus, the authors recommend
shedding more light on such topics, for instance, by investigating how technology has changed the
23
communication behavior of assignees to stay in touch with their family members and colleagues at
home and how it has affected repatriation outcomes. In line with O’Sullivan (2013), scholars in repat-
riation research should strongly focus on exploring the effects of social media and e-HRM on various
repatriation outcomes (e.g. cultural readjustment, job satisfaction, and job performance) as those tech-
nologies can be powerful tools that will strongly change the repatriation experience. For instance,
O’Sullivan (2013) outlines that social media helps to reduce a repatriate’s risk of being “out of sight,
out of mind” during decision making about post-return assignments and permitted repatriates to im-
prove their access to HR key decision-making arenas, which in turn resulted in a higher repatriate em-
powerment. Therefore, future research should start integrating technology-related aspects (e.g. social
media, e-HRM) when exploring readjustment issues, job satisfaction, or the psychological contract of
repatriates. For instance, concerning the latter, it seems reasonable to assume that the use of social
media will increase the transparency of job promotion practices upon repatriation among repatriates,
which might in turn affect their perception of organizational justice (e.g. judgements about the fairness
of outcomes, procedures, and interpersonal treatment).
When exploring technology-related aspects, the social presence theory (Gunawardena, 1995) and
media richness theory (Daft and Lengel, 1984) could be considered as a valuable theoretical frame-
work to deliver explanations on how a company’s digital transformation may influence repatriation
outcomes. Moreover, it is recommended that empirical research should incorporate the potentially
moderating role of individual-level variables (e.g. age) as earlier research has found an impact of those
variables on respondents’ satisfaction with those technologies (Cox, 2004). To conclude, future studies
should strongly follow these recommendations, as the analysis of the macrosystem will deepen our
knowledge of the underlying processes and thereby contribute to the development of this research field
(Hayes, 2013). In terms of employed methodology, our calls to incorporate contextual factors, espe-
cially within the macrosystem, will mean that repatriation research must go beyond testing direct rela-
tionships in linear regression models. Instead future studies should employ moderated and mediated
regression analysis as well as structural equation modelling, as those approaches enable researchers to
explore the underlying mechanisms of contextual factors and to simultaneously test multiple relation-
ships, which leads to more valid and reliable conclusions (Valk et al., 2013).
24
4.6. Chronosystem (time-related factors) - Time matters in repatriation research
As time and thus the chronosystem plays a crucial role in repatriation, it was rather surprising that only
four articles in the sample employ a longitudinal study design in repatriation research. In spite of high
costs in collecting longitudinal data, a longitudinal study allows to track former expatriates and to gain
valuable insight into reasons for actual turnover or processes of readjustment. Moreover, it enables
researchers to align expectations and perceptions with regard to repatriation.
With regard to the chronosystem, a number of studies investigated the expectations on repatriation
in retrospect (Harvey, 1997; Stroh et al., 1998; 2000), whereas the data collection at different points of
time (e.g. during and upon assignment) would have allowed to align expectations with perceptions and
track their development over time (Suutari and Brewster, 2003). Such a longitudinal research design is
important in this matter as expectations are prone to change over time - in the sense that assignees will
develop their expectations during their stay abroad, which may change upon their return (e.g. self-
justification due to an occurred cognitive dissonance). Consequently, it is advisable to survey expecta-
tions while being abroad and align them to perceptions upon return in order to receive a more realistic
picture.
Other researchers who focused on the chronosystem investigated the consequences of repatriation
in terms of turnover intentions among repatriates (Birur and Muthiah, 2013; Liu, 2005; Lee and Liu,
2007). As turnover intentions represent only one predictor for actual turnover, it is recommended that
further longitudinal studies (e.g. Kraimer et al., 2012; Suutari and Brewster, 2003) are conducted
which are not only able to track actual turnover, but to include other factors which determine the repat-
riate’s decision to actually leave the company. For instance, by having tracked homecoming Finnish
expatriates over a period of 3 years Suutari and Brewster (2003) were able to detect an actual turnover
rate of 35% of the repatriates in their sample. Future studies should further delve into turnover pro-
cesses of repatriates, explore underlying psychological mechanisms, and include meaningful variables
such as external job offers, protean career attitude, family and career roles, among others as potentially
decisive factors that might influence the relationship between turnover intentions and actual turnover
(Tharenou and Caulfield, 2010).
25
Finally, as prior expatriation and repatriation literature has outlined that adjustment is highly time-
sensitive, a longitudinal research design could help to better understand the processes of readjustment.
In cases in which a longitudinal research design could not be achieved, the authors emphasize that
researchers should control for the time upon return or limit the sample to a specific timeframe (e.g.
within 6 months upon return). Surprisingly, the majority of the analyzed empirical studies did not pro-
vide detailed information on the time point of data collection. If information on time was given, it was
frequently on a randomized basis and not embedded in a systematic way into the study design. Apart
from employing a longitudinal research design, the authors recommend to adopt alternative methodo-
logical approaches in order to capture the element of time. For instance, in expatriation research
O’Sullivan and O’Sullivan (2008) employed a case study design and collected data at multiple time
points by attending over 160 meetings and conducting 78 semi-structured interviews with the aim to
investigate collaborations among members of expatriate teams for new product development. To con-
clude, future studies should build on these recommendations and should consider time as a valuable
contextual factor when interpreting the results.
4 Conclusion
This study contributes to the repatriation literature in several ways. First, it provides a comprehensive
and systematic review of the current state of repatriation research by employing an ecological systems
theoretical perspective. Second, it sheds light on methodological shortcomings that are still existent in
the repatriation literature and links them to specific ecological systems. By doing so, this study com-
plements recent literature reviews and provides a nuanced picture of the repatriation literature that
goes beyond the exclusive investigation of research contents. Third, the study derives several recom-
mendations for future research in the field of repatriation by outlining under which conditions multi-
ple-informant research designs, longitudinal studies, and the inclusion of contextual factors should be
applied. Following these recommendations will allow researchers to consider the micro-, meso-, exo-,
macro- and chronosystem of the repatriation phenomenon more accurately. Finally, it is outlined that
repatriation research should take in a more differentiated viewpoint to deduce target-group-oriented
recommendations for organizations as the population of returning “non-traditional” expatriates who
26
share certain characteristics (e.g. returning female expatriates, returning self-initiated expatriates, re-
turning inpatriates and home-coming expatriates from short-term assignments) will increase in the
future. With this study, we want to motivate scholars in repatriation research to break new grounds and
to leave their comfort zone (e.g. employing alternative research approaches and including novel
sources of data collection), which will not only contribute to our understanding of central mechanisms
in repatriation and its development over time, but also broaden our horizon through different repatria-
tion stakeholders’ perspectives.

Acknowledgement:
Both authors have equally contributed to this article and their names are listed in an alphabetical order.
27
References
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*Valk, R., Van Der Velde, M.E.G. van Engen, M.L. and Szkudlarek, B. (2013), “International
assignment and repatriation experiences of Indian international assignees in The Netherlands”,
International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 335–356.

*Velde, C.R. (2010), “Intercultural knowledge management: exploring models for repatriation compe-
tency transfer in the global workplace”, International Journal of Human Resources Development
and Management, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 297–309.
*Vidal, M., Valle, R. and Aragón, M. (2007a), “The adjustment process of Spanish repatriates: A case
study”, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 18 No. 8, pp. 1396–1417.
*Vidal, M., Valle, R. and Aragón, M. (2007b), “Antecedents of repatriates’ job satisfaction and its
influence on turnover intentions: Evidence from Spanish repatriated managers”, Journal of Busi-
ness Research, Vol. 60 No. 12, pp. 1272–1281.
*Vidal, M., Valle, R. and Aragón, M. (2008), “International workers’ satisfaction with the repatriation
process”, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 19 No. 9, pp. 1683–1702.
*Vidal, M., Valle, R. and Aragón, M. (2010), “Analysis of the repatriation adjustment process in the
Spanish context”, International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 31 No. 1, pp. 21–41.
Wilkinson, B. and Noga, T. (2007), “The Inequity of US Estate Tax Consequences for Non-citizen
Spouses and Expatriates and the Impact of the Proposed Exit Tax”, The ATA Journal of Legal
Tax Research.
Wu, M., Zhuang, W.-L. and Hung, C.-C. (2014), “The effects of mentoring functions on repatriate
adjustment - Moderating role of core self-evaluations”, International Journal of Intercultural
Relations, Vol. 43 No. Part B, pp. 177–188.
*Zikic, J., Novicevic, M.M., Harvey, M. and Breland, J. (2006), “Repatriate career exploration: a path
to career growth and success”, Career Development International, Vol. 11 No. 7, pp. 633–649.
40
*Zvara, P. and Singh, G. (2004), “Home sweet home: Dealing with return to a home country after an
assignment abroad”, International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management,
Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 215–222.
Author Biographies
Dr. Jan Knocke is a Post-Doc Researcher at the Department of Human Resource Management, Uni-
versity of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration
from the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the
University of Bayreuth, Germany. He received his doctorate degree from the University of Erlangen-
Nürnberg. His research focuses on Expatriate Management as well as Cross-Cultural Management.
Dr. Tassilo Schuster is a Post-Doc Researcher at the Department of International Management, Uni-
versity of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. He holds a Diploma in Business Administration as well as a
Doctoral Degree from the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. His research interests include
Expatriate Management, Inpatriates, Top Management Teams, Team Diversity, Corporate Social and
Environmental Responsibility.
Dr. Schuster is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: Tassilo.Schuster@fau.de
41
Table 1 Repatriation Research from an ecological systems theory perspective
Individual System (intrapersonal factors)

Demographic Age (Black, 1994; Gregersen and Stroh, 1997), Gender (Harvey, 1997;
attributes Scullion and Linehan, 2002; Tahir and Azhar, 2013), Nationality (Suutari
and Brewster, 2003; Stevens et al., 2006; Valk et al., 2015; Vidal et al.,
2007), Education (Suutari and Brewster, 2003; Stahl and Cerdin, 2004),
Organizational tenure, (Feldman and Tompson, 1993; Kraimer et al.,
2009), International experience (Kraimer et al., 2009; Tahir and Azhar,
2013)
Psychographic Motives (Forstenlechner, 2010; Hyder and Lövblad, 2007; Valk et al.,
attributes 2014), Personality (Furuya et al., 2009; O’Sullivan, 2002), Cultural identi-
ty (Cox, 2004; Valk et al., 2013)
Behavioral Coping behavior (Feldman and Tompson, 1993; Herman and Tetrick,
attributes 2009), Proactive career development behavior (Lazarova and Cerdin,
2007; O’Sullivan, 2002; Stahl and Cerdin, 2004; Valk et al., 2015); Feed-
back seeking behavior (Crowne, 2009)
Microsystem (interpersonal factors)
Family Black and Gregersen, 1991; Black and Gregersen, 1999; Cho et al., 2013;
Liu, 2005; Tharenou and Caulfield, 2010
Friends Bossard and Peterson, 2005; Tharenou and Caulfield, 2010; Valk et al.,
2013
Peers Burmeister et al., 2015; Kraimer et al., 2012; Santosh and Muthiah, 2012
Supervisors Burmeister et al., 2015; Furuya et al., 2009; Muthiah and Santosh, 2015;
Santosh and Muthiah, 2012
Subordinates Burmeister et al., 2015
Mesosystem (interconnections)
Work-family conflicts Kulkarni et al., 2010; Schütter and Boerner, 2013
Social referencing Guo et al., 2013
Psychological contract Aldossari and Robertson, 2016; Gonçalves das Neves et al., 2014; Baruch
breach and Altman, 2002; Lazarova and Caligiuri, 2001; Ren et al., 2013
Exosystem (organizational factors)
Repatriation policies Bossard and Peterson, 2005; Chew and Debowski, 2008; Furuya et al.,
2009; Kulkarni et al., 2010
Staffing approaches Furuya et al., 2007; Kang and Shen, 2013; Shen and Edwards, 2004
Communication Cox, 2004; Oddou et al., 2009; Paik et al., 2002; Vidal et al., 2010
Assistance programs Bailey and Dragoni, 2013; Baruch et al., 2002; Cho et al., 2013; Kulkarni
et al., 2010; Lazarova and Caligiuri, 2001; Lazarova and Cerdin, 2007;
Linehan and Scullion, 2002a; Stroh, 1995
Macrosystem (technological, cultural and institutional settings).
Technology Cox, 2004; Morgan et al., 2004; O’Sullivan, 2013
Culture Black and Gregersen, 1991; Kulkarni et al., 2010; Tahir and Azhar, 2013;
Valk et al. 2015
Institutions Valk et al., 2014; Valk et al., 2015
Chronosystem (time-related factors)
Changes over time Black and Gregersen, 1991; Harvey, 1997; Kraimer et al., 2012; Reiche,
2012; Suutari and Brewster, 2003; Starr, 2009; Tharenou and Caulfield,
2010
1
Figure 1
Summary of article selection process
1
Figure 2 Content-related analysis from an ecological systems theory perspective
2
Figure 3
Employed Theoretical Frameworks
3
Figure 4
Methodological Background of repatriation studies over time
4
Figure 5 Sources of Data Collection as a Function of the Employed Methodological Background
5
Figure 6
Employed Statistical Method in Repatriation Research

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Where Are We and Where Do We Go From Here? A Systematic Literature Review

Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on a systematic literature review of 96

their repatriation (Brookfield Global Relocation Services, 2015).

particular circumstances of female expatriates, dual-career couples, consequences related to different

types of assignments (e.g. short-term assignments, self-initiated expatriation, inpatriation), whereas

Linehan, 2002; Valk et al., 2014).

ees) on repatriation is still missing.

addresses the following research questions:

• What is the general level of emphasis on repatriation in management journals?

• What is the primary content of the relevant articles?

• Which theories are applied to analyze repatriation?

patriation are deduced.

2.1. Research Approach

coded and analyzed.

and Shortland, 2008; Breitenmoser and Bader, 2016; Doherty, 2013).

research articles on repatriation.

the high quality and scope of this review.

Figure 1 goes about here

2.2. Coding of Journal articles

ical research in the field of repatriation.

ment in order to ensure intersubjectivity.

3.1. Level of Emphasis in Management Journals

the repatriation literature over the years.

such as General Management and Strategy, Knowledge Management, or Psychology – underlining

for 52% (50 of 96) of all analyzed articles.

3.2. Research Content

nections between systems), exosystem (organizational aspects), macrosystem (technological, cultural

in the context of repatriation.

Figure 2 goes about here

family members) as well.

Mesosystem (interconnections). According to Bronfenbrenner (1988) the mesosystem comprises

vant by the repatriates and HR practitioners in their sample.

the home office and satisfaction with repatriation.

Table 1 goes about here

3.3. Theoretical Framework

Figure 3 goes about here

3.4. Consideration of the Differentiated Viewpoint of the Expatriate Literature

expatriation such as short-term assignments, flexpatriates or international business travelers (Crowley-

3.5. Employed Methodology

neglected research methods (e.g. mixed-methods) for repatriation research.

Figure 4 goes about here

3.6. Employed Analysis

ing with questions about the exosystem).

Figure 5 goes about here

conditions and to test more complex frameworks.

Figure 6 goes about here

perspectives of other important actors within the repatriates’ environment.

research will be derived.

4.1. Individual (intrapersonal factors) – Consideration of Contextual Elements and Alternative

an embryonic stage. Taking in a differentiated viewpoint is important, as repatriation experiences

distinctive features of different types of repatriates and to provide target-group-oriented recommenda-

tions for HR practices and policies on how to deal with them.

the case of parent country expatriates returning to HQ.

interacting with new colleagues after their return.

a better understanding of the repatriate’s microsystem.

4.3. Mesosystem (interconnections) - Considering accompanying children on their repatriation

4.4. Exosystem (organizational factors) – Consideration of the organizational perception of HR