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Contribution Details

Type Journal Article
Scope Discipline-based scholarship
Title Embeddedness and the repatriation intention of assigned and self-initiated expatriates
Organization Unit
Authors
  • Johannes Meuer
  • Christian Tröster
  • Michèle Angstmann
  • Uschi Backes-Gellner
  • Kerstin Pull
Item Subtype Original Work
Refereed Yes
Status Published in final form
Language
  • English
Journal Title European Management Journal
Publisher Elsevier
Geographical Reach international
ISSN 0263-2373
Volume 37
Number 6
Page Range 784 - 793
Date 2019
Abstract Text Expatriation research has been intrigued by the question of how to prevent the unplanned return of expatriates to their home country. Although a majority of studies have focused on assigned expatriates (AEs), only recently have researchers expanded the scope of analysis by focusing on self-initiated expatriates (SIEs). For SIEs, research has identified job embeddedness as a key explanatory concept for early repatriation without yet acknowledging its potential to also explain the early expatriation of AEs. However, because AEs and SIEs differ in important motivational and behavioral aspects, the lack of comparative studies prohibits a deeper understanding of the mechanisms through which job embeddedness influences early repatriation. We build on belongingness theory to conceptualize early repatriation as a compensatory reaction of expatriates to an inhibited need to belong. Using a unique sample of 345 expatriates from 40 countries, we show that off-the-job embeddedness is more important for explaining the repatriation intention of AEs than of SIEs, whereas on-the-job embeddedness is more important for explaining the repatriation of SIEs compared to AEs. Our integrative model carries important theoretical implications for expatriation research and provides managerial implications for recruiting and retaining AEs and SIEs.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1016/j.emj.2019.03.002
Other Identification Number merlin-id:17932
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