In this paper we show that highly skilled undocumented migrants are more likely to return home than migrants with low or no skills when illegality causes “skill waste”, i.e. when illegality reduces the rate of return of individual capabilities (i.e. skills and human capital) in both the...

Undocumented migration is a pervasive and increasingly relevant phenomenon in modern societies. In this paper we shed some lights on the factors affecting the return plans of irregular migrants and in particular on the role of individual skills and abilities. We show that highly skilled...