German Emigration and Remigration Panel Study (GERPS): Methodology and Data Manual of the Baseline Survey (Wave 1)

International migration between economically highly developed countries is a central
component of global migration flows. Still, surprisingly little is known about the
international mobility of the populations of these affluent societies. The aim of the
German Emigration and Remigration Panel Study (GERPS) is to collect data to analyse the
individual consequences of international migration as well as the consequences for the
country of origin. GERPS is based on an origin-based multistage probability sample using
the German population registers as a sampling frame. The realised net sample includes
more than 11,000 persons who recently moved abroad from Germany and persons
returning to Germany after having lived abroad. The study follows a multi-destination
country design and allows comparative analyses of migrants and non-migrants who
stayed in the country of origin. GERPS is a panel study with at least four waves during a
period of at least 24 months. This documentation, however, presents the methodology
and the data for the first wave providing the baseline survey. Detailed information is
provided to invite external researchers to apply the new data infrastructure to their
own research and to disseminate the innovative research design to construct migrant
samples.