Theorizing the meaning(s) of 'expatriate': establishing boundary conditions for business expatriates

This paper examines the concept of expatriates, arguing that sloppy use of the term in the past has led to problems of inconsistent research, incompatible findings and a lack of clarity in the field. The increasing interest over the last dozen years or so in other forms of international experience,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of human resource management 2017-01, Vol.28 (1), p.27-61
Main Authors: McNulty, Yvonne, Brewster, Chris
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Boundary conditions
boundary conditions for expatriation
business expatriates
expatriate definition
Expatriate employees
Expatriates
migrants
sojourners
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This paper examines the concept of expatriates, arguing that sloppy use of the term in the past has led to problems of inconsistent research, incompatible findings and a lack of clarity in the field. The increasing interest over the last dozen years or so in other forms of international experience, often equally poorly conceptualized, has compounded the problem. We argue for the need for greater construct clarity in studies of expatriates and, by extension, of other forms of international experience. Specifically, we attempt to clarify to whom does the term 'expatriate', and specifically 'business expatriate', apply and the boundary conditions under which expatriate employment is enacted.
ISSN:0958-5192
1466-4399
DOI:10.1080/09585192.2016.1243567