Purpose – Adopting a view that migration is an investment, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the risk-adjusted returns that migrant domestic workers from Vietnam to Taiwan can expect to earn. Design/methodology/approach – The study analyses data obtained through interviews of a sample of migrant domestic workers, all from Phu Tho in the north of Vietnam, who had migrated to Taiwan. Findings – The study found that migrants were driven strongly by financial motivations. Analysis of the typical costs of migrating, wages in the host country, average length of stay and especially, uncertainties affecting the length of stay, found that the investment in migration is a highly risky one for migrants. In most cases, migration does not pay. Research limitations/implications – Estimates of costs and benefits can be improved with larger samples of respondents and data sources that can help validate the interviews. Practical implications – There is a need to improve financial literacy among migrants to help them better assess their investment in migration. Social implications – This paper highlights the inequity in risk allocation in the context of migration. Originality/value – To the knowledge, there is no research of the financial costs and benefits of migration as domestic workers, especially from Vietnam to Taiwan.

This article is an attempt to open the lid a little of the “black box of migration” i.e. brokers. Analysing contracts between brokers and labour migrants, we identify four different forms of exploitation of migrants by brokers: expropriation of skill premium, risk shifting, over‐charging, and non‐refund of deposits. Opportunistic behaviour by brokers, as evidenced by such exploitation, is seen as a market failure that is explained by human attributes and transactional characteristics. Given the rigidities in the human attributes of the contracting parties and the nature of migration as a risky multi‐period transaction, proposals are made for non‐market interventions, which can lead to more equitable contracting.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to map the “migration pathways” (King and Skeldon, 2010) followed by interviews with a group of Vietnamese international labour migrants. Design/methodology/approach Through 50 in-depth interviews, the authors identify the reasons that explain the pathways observed. Findings The authors found that more than half of the interviewees did what King and Skeldon describe as a U-turn, whereby the migrants go abroad for work directly from their home town and return to settle there. The remainder did a J-turn, meaning the migrants returned and settled elsewhere. The majority of those doing a J-turn moved to another town/city within the province of their home town. Few return migrants settled outside their home province. The main explanations for the U-turn choice include existing investment in immobile assets in their home town, strong family ties, parental care obligations, lack of skill acquisition from international labour migration, age and for married migrants having children. Poor conditions in their home town, the absence of local job opportunities and better schooling for children were important considerations that made the J-turn more desirable. Having family ties in a new location, and affording the investment needed to settle in a new town, were important explanations to make the J-turn possible. Originality/value This paper highlights the need for economic development in rural Vietnam, including the creation of decentralised and sustainable livelihoods, so that return migrants have opportunities to reintegrate within their home communities.

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PurposeLimited previous studies about Vietnamese returned migrant workers reviewed that a relatively high rate of migrants returned home before their contract ended. This paper aims to explore how the decisions to return were made under social lenses.Design/methodology/approachThis paper analyses data obtained through in-depth interviews of contract workers who had worked in Taiwan with a focus on Phu Tho province in Vietnam.FindingsThe authors followed O’Reilly’s (2012) adaption of Practice theory in migration research to examine a group of Vietnamese labour migrants returning from Taiwan. Under this theory, external and internal structures are the two divisions of the social environment. The authors identified external structures that might enable or constraint migrant’s mobility. When negotiating internal structures, Vietnamese women might end their contract early in response to family obligations.Originality/valueThe findings provide insights into how women make their decisions when to return, which may contribute to a better understanding of how to assist women engaged in transnational labour migration.