The Impact of Cultural Similarity and Social Network Characteristics on Re-Expatriation Intention Among Self-Initiated Academic Expatriates

Abstract

This conceptual paper sheds light on re-expatriation intention among self-initiated academic expatriates who have completed their international assignments, and returned their home country and then intended to re-expatriate to have another experience in the host country by their own initiatives. Cultural similarity and social network characteristics which involve size, closeness and frequency appeared to have a significant impact on the expatriates' decisions to move abroad for the first time. Therefore, these variables are predicted in the study to be associated with their intentions to re-expatriate. Push-pull theory is utilized in this paper to better understanding the impact of cultural similarity and social network characteristics on re-expatriation intention among academic SIEs. Thus, this study contributes to fill the gap in literature by addressing the influence of cultural similarity and social network characteristics on re-expatriation intention.