Abstract/Summary

This chapter outlines the development of research on expatriates. After defining our constructs, we show how the early interest in the subject was narrowed down to a focus on factors that impacted the foreign assignment policies of large, western, multinational enterprises. We then address how, since those early years, the coverage of the field has expanded in terms of types of organisations, types of expatriates, country coverage and subject focus and is now becoming integrated with closely aligned fields of research. We also address how the field is theorised and include implications and issues for future research.