Burden or Blessing? A Taxonomy of Repatriation Patterns: Evidence From a Longitudinal Study

In the past 25 years research in international business and HRM management has increasingly focused on repatriation of international assignees. However, to date research has rather been one-sided as extant literature draws mainly the picture of failed assignments and issues to be faced when the assignee returns. In spite of the vast number of publications on repatriation a differentiated perspective on repatriation is missing. The purpose of this study is to fill the research gap by disentangling the field of repatriation into three repatriation dimensions - functional, social and psychological - and to develop a taxonomy of repatriation patterns by conducting a longitudinal study. The results of an online survey among 117 German international assignees reveal that 7 different clusters of expatriates and repatriates may be distinguished. The taxonomy differs significantly among the individual repatriation dimensions and allows to illustrate a more nuanced picture on ways of repatriation. Finally, implicat...