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This paper studies the determinants of emigration from six Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries in light of the Arab Spring of 2011. The aim is to determine if the economically unfortunate events which occurred as a result of the Arab Spring, resulted in a brain drain for many countries. The paper's analysis is conducted using the Arab Transformation Project dataset of the year 2014 by employing an ordered probit model. The paper's main conclusion is that sentiments of unhappiness appear to be the primary determinant of the willingness to emigrate. Other post‐revolutionary feelings include lack of trust and political and democratic discontent, which highly encourage the willingness to emigrate. In addition, socio‐economic factors, such as being young, male, and highly educated, contribute to the willingness to emigrate. However, married individuals are less likely to consider emigration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on empirical material gathered in Haiti, this paper advances a new and innovative understanding of the internal brain drain phenomenon—the poaching of local skilled workers by international organisations (IOs) or international non‐governmental organisations (INGOs)— by conceptualising it as an equilibrium. This equilibrium is composed of two sets of tensions: (i) those between the salary conditions in the public sector and those on offer to local personnel working for IOs and INGOs; and (ii) those inherent in the dual salary scale used by IOs and INGOs for local and international staff. These two sets of tensions contribute in their specific ways to international migration, and, as such, the internal brain drain has a bearing on external brain drain dynamics. In addition, the paper addresses the difficult policy choices facing development and humanitarian organisations, since every set of policies that impacts on one side of the equilibrium is bound to affect its other side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is on an attempt to quantify economic losses due to ongoing and vast brain drain emigration from Serbia. We claim that socio‐economic losses in terms of implicit and explicit costs related to upbringing and education of emigrants as well as lost production are paramount. Therefore, the main argument is in line with pessimistic stances on migration and its effect on Serbian development. Massive emigration, especially of educated individuals, results in a great number of incalculable deficits for the country, which cannot be expressed and measured in monetary terms only. The authors argue that these are even more striking when viewed from a holistic perspective factoring in demographic, social, political, cultural and intellectual impacts. It is also shown how emigration of the highly educated greatly undermines local democracy and social cohesion in Serbia. Nevertheless, the authors also take note of contemporary transnational perspectives on migration and development and present possible policies aimed at exploiting advantages of human capital and social networks of migrants and diaspora, circular mobility and returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper derives from our joint interest in understanding how scientific mobility affects developing countries. Many authors have addressed the topic previously, both from an economic and from a sociological perspective. However, recent literature evinces dissatisfaction with both analytical frameworks and the framing of public policies addressing the brain drain problematic. This paper is a contribution to understanding the historical and theoretical foundations of the 'brain drain' debate. We aim to improve conceptual clarity regarding the itinerancy of human beings and the mobilization of human capital. We develop a critical review of the economics of the brain drain, highlighting the work of some key early thinkers and pointing out the way in which subsequent work has taken up selected aspects of their approaches leaving other challenges aside. We then consider the diaspora networks literature, which is characterized as taking a 'connectionist' approach to the brain drain. We identify two fundamental problems: the sidelining of complementarity and context dependency as basic properties of human capital; and a failure to adequately disentangle the concepts of human resources for science and technology ( HRST) and human capital in academic and policy discourse about the brain drain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the spatial patterns and determinants of China's interprovincial skilled migration by using data from 2005 one per cent population sample survey. While the coastal region benefits from the influx of skilled labour, the rest of China suffers from severe brain drain. Estimates from zero-inflated negative binomial gravity models indicate that employment opportunities, especially interregional wage differentials, play a dominant role in attracting skilled labour, and that the impact of amenities on skilled migration turns out to be small and less clear. Findings suggest that China's skilled people prioritize their career prospects over the quality of life in the migration decision-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is little doubt that highly skilled workers in many Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are scarce, it is also true that many highly trained professionals have left LDCs to go and work in the developed world. The latter, known as the “brain drain,” or simply human capital flight, is not at all a new phenomenon; it has only become more pronounced in recent years. This paper delves into the causes, challenges, and prospects of the phenomenon of the “brain drain” in LDCs, by taking Eritrea as a case study. In so doing, it demonstrates that deteriorating economic conditions, lack of good governance and political instability are the root causes of the “brain drain” in LDCs such as Eritrea. The paper also highlights the impact of the “brain drain”, and suggests some of the measures that may be put in place by governments of LDCs in order to redress the situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emigration of experts from Africa to the developed world is often analysed in terms of the reverse transfer of technology (RTT), a process typically described as one in which the skills embedded in an expert become part of a reverse flow of technology from the less developed to the developed world. In the reverse flow or brain gain, the African home country obtains the embedded skills of the returning expert and is able to use them towards national development efforts. The objectives of this paper are to investigate the RTT from the conceptual, empirical, and policy perspectives. At the conceptual level, the objective is to review the insights to the RTT provided in the globalization, the New Diaspora and the New Brain Drain paradigms. Empirically, the paper uses available data to make the case that even though the RTT has been marginalized in recent scholarship, it is a persistent development problem that continues to warrant scholarly and policy attention. Building on this argument, the paper outlines a model of expert migration, termed the reverse and return transfer of technology (RRTT). This model explores the decision-making of migrating experts, especially in terms of source-destination pathways and the choice of locations as either temporary or permanent homes. The policy implications of this reformulation are assessed in terms of the brain drain, the brain gain and remittances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates the conditions under which some African professional women make decisions to immigrate based on gaining the ability to fulfil cultural expectations for them in financial maintenance of the household. Many women within African states, including the upper-echelon of women from highly educated, wealthy, and influential families, find that cultural expectations for financial contributions to and financial management of their households are difficult to fulfil under changing economic systems in states like Nigeria. The burden to support a household according to local cultural expectations is untenable for many professional women who also find that the real practices of the state, financial institutions, and the job market afford them little ability to earn and to protect the very income and investments they need to fulfil their obligations to the household. Hence, many women opt to gain control of the means to meet their household obligations by shifting to a new statal environment - in places like Great Britain, Canada, or the United States - where women can find legal and structural guarantees of the right to financial privacy, control of their own earnings, and ability to use earnings to support children. This paper seeks to challenge policy makers to examine the role that cultural expectations for African women's roles in household reproduction have to do with creating push factors that send African professional women into the brain drain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the economic literature, high-skilled emigration may either harm or benefit developing economies. Recent research highlighted several positive and negative channels through which the brain drain operates. This paper aims at evaluating the relative magnitudes of various brain drain channels and quantifying their global impact on migrants' sending countries. For this purpose, we develop a 10-region general equilibrium model of the world economy characterized by overlapping-generations dynamics. Our findings suggest that the short-run impact of brain drain on resident human capital is extremely crucial, as it affects not only the number of high-skilled workers available to domestic production, but also the sending economy's capacity to innovate/adopt modern technologies. This latter effect is particularly important in globalization, where capital investments are made in places with high production efficiencies. Hence, despite positive feedback effects, those countries facing prevalent high-skilled emigration are the most candid victims to brain drain. ( JEL F22, J24, O57) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT One of the characteristics of the relationship between the developed and developing worlds is the 'brain drain'- the phenomenon by which expertise moves towards richer countries, thereby condemning poorer countries to continued comparative and absolute poverty. It is tempting to see the phenomenon as a moral problem in its own right, such that there is a moral imperative to end it, that is separate from (and additional to) any moral imperative to relieve the burden of poverty. However, it is not clear why this should be so - why, that is, there is a moral reason to stem the flow of expertise in addition to seeking to improve welfare. In this paper, I examine three explanations of the putative moral aspect of the brain drain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diasporas contribute to their homeland's development through remittances, philanthropy, skills transfer, business investment, and advocacy. This paper focuses on actions that homeland governments can take to create an enabling environment for diasporas' contributions. Part I addresses the diaspora phenomenon and the homeland government-diaspora relationship. Part II develops a framework for characterizing government's role in an enabling environment specific to diasporas' development contributions. Part III considers how to put the framework into practice, identifying important caveats and discussing several implementation issues, including the potential role of donors. The framework is also a tool for diasporans to strategically advocate for improved enabling environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One third of Europe's regions is confronted with a shrinking population: they are losing inhabitants due to ageing, low fertility and brain drain. To turn the tide, many local authorities invest in place marketing aimed at attracting new residents and firms. This paper deals with the question as to how useful place marketing to beat demographic shrinkage really is. Theoretical and empirical insights from geography (e.g. place fuzziness, sense of place and locational inertia), are used to argue that there are limits to place marketing to attract newcomers. To illustrate this argument, some examples and data from European territories are presented. We conclude that it is more useful for Europe's shrinking territories to focus on 'warm' marketing that tries to retain rather than to attract place customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly skilled people are among the most valuable factors of production in the contemporary world economy. Some have characterized the competition among nations for these people as a “brain drain” or “war for talent,” which imposes significant costs on the countries of emigration. However, the distribution of costs and benefits that results from high-skill migration is not necessarily zero-sum or fixed. It may be altered through international cooperation, producing a self-reinforcing “win–win” scenario for sending and receiving countries. Bilateral cooperation, focused on specific sectors affected by migration, is the most promising approach for realizing such a scenario. This paper explores the prospects and potential for such cooperation between India and the United States, which comprise what is probably the world's largest high-skill mobility relationship. After sketching the broad contours of the relationship, we explore the prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation in three specific fields of high-skill migration: information technology services, medicine and nursing, and graduate education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this paper are: first, to briefly review the different theoretical aspects of brain drain and its potential positive or negative, direct or indirect effects on the economy of the home country; second, to highlight the limited empirical research on some of these issues; and third, to discuss on this grounding the empirical evidence on the nature and size of brain drain, as well as its impact on the economies of Albania and Bulgaria. As it appears, the evidence for these two countries and its evaluation as to whether brain drain has been or can be a threat to their development is contradictory and confusing, as it comes out from different casual observations without a convincing analysis. The relevant discussion has not escaped the stereotype way of thinking that the economy and society of these two countries would have been better had emigration of educated persons not taken place, or had those who migrated just returned. The conclusion on policy for brain drain and brain return is that merely hindering the emigration of educated people or trying to motivate their return cannot by itself elevate education and research to higher quality levels and promote development and growth. Without simultaneously developing a friendly and comprehensive institutional and pragmatic framework, such measures are often ineffective or even counterproductive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major portion of migration flows are temporary, ending with return migration to the home country or migration to a third country. However, the propensity to return differs according to migrants' countries of origin. This paper presents a discussion of the theoretical approaches to return migration and a brief survey of the actual flows in Denmark. We then present a panel data set of immigrants to Denmark covering the years 1986 - 1995 and run a number of logit models where return migration is related to individual background factors. Our research shows significant differences in decisions of return depending on country of origin, age at entry, education, and family ties. One of the most important determinants is found to be a migrant's success, or lack thereof, regarding labour market integration. This research suggests that policy instruments such as education, training, and temporary wage subsidies could play an important role in controlling the interaction between immigration and labour market forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the influence of immigrants on Danish imports and exports. As public and political debates concerning immigration policy are expected to continue, the findings presented here provide valuable information. Prior to 2002, Denmark's immigration policy was among the most liberal in Europe. However, concerns regarding terrorism, social services depletion, and detrimental labour market effects, all purported to stem from immigration, led the Danish government to severely tighten its policy. In examining Denmark, we explore the immigrant-trade relationship in a small host country that is globally well-integrated, open to trade, and proximate to both major trading partners and primary immigrant source nations. Further, as the share of the Danish population constituted by immigrants increased from 2.6 to 5.6 per cent between 1980 and 2000, Denmark presents an opportunity to consider immigrant-trade links for an increasingly diverse population that was initially relatively homogenous. We consider a number of variations regarding home countries and trade values to estimate immigrant-trade links using a Tobit specification. The findings presented here, when considered in relation to prior research, suggest that the presence and magnitude of immigrant-trade links vary according to host country population homogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the prospect of emigration of skilled professional citizens from Botswana. Since 1980, international migration of skilled people from, and within, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has surpassed anything previously witnessed in the twentieth century. One consequence of the increasing frequency of such migration is growing governmental resistance in developed countries to free movement of skilled labour. Unlike most SSA countries, Botswana's robust economy and long-standing democratic political structure make it appear an unlikely candidate for massive brain drain, but there are already indicators pointing towards its occurrence (Campbell, 2001). This study was designed primarily to determine whether professionals persist in their intention to leave the country and, if so, why they want to migrate. The results point towards a likelihood of massive brain drain in Botswana in the near future, although the prospects of this being realized cannot be ascertained by the instruments employed in this study. Among the key findings are that: 1) the unhappiness of future professionals seems to derive from poor opportunities for professional advancement resulting in disequilibrium between income distribution and a taste for luxury goods; 2) the prospects for emigration have improved because of increased earnings and but better access to information technology, and; 3) that technology may now be a more important motivation for emigration than family members living abroad. Nonetheless, there is evidence that a vigorous and sustained economy-enhancing campaign by the government would encourage Batswana professionals to stay and work in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most previous empirical studies of migration and remittances ignored possible differences among occupational categories of migrants. Where human capital investment decisions and occupational choices are influenced by perceived prospects for international migration, internationally tradable occupations such as nursing are likely to attract individuals with particular attributes and with a stronger propensity to migrate. We argue that this can also affect the remittance behaviour of such occupational groups, pointing to the need for a disaggregated analysis by occupational category. This paper reports the results of a recent survey of nurses in Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, and nurse migrants from the same countries in Australia and New Zealand. We also report the findings from a re-analysis of earlier remittance data from Tongan and Samoan migrants in Australia. Nurse household remittance behaviour is statistically different from others, with nurses remitting more generously and consistently over time. The reasons and implications are explored. The impact and volume of nurse remittances emphasise the sustainability of the migration, remittances, aid and bureaucracy (MIRAB) system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing high levels of temporary migration between Central and Eastern Europe and the European Union (EU) have highlighted a number of concerns relating to the eastern enlargement of the Union. While much of the debate has focused on the destinations, we use Slovakia as a case study to explore economic implications for the countries of origin of highly skilled migrants. First, the paper examines estimates of the scale of“youth brain migration”, comparing survey-based and expert-opinion estimates with our own estimate based on reconciling labour market and educational data. This identifies a substantial loss of graduate workers from the labour force through migration, accounting for a potentially significant proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. Second, we consider whether such migration will constitute“brain drain/overflow” or“brain circulation”: in other words will it be temporary or permanent? In some ways, however, this is a false dichotomy, for there are strong links between initial temporary migration and intended permanent migration, explored here through a survey of the motivations and social networks of returned migrants. Third, we address the ability of national states to intervene to mediate such losses. We generally concur with other commentators on the need for a multi-scalar and multi-functional approach, focusing especially on economic development. However, we are pessimistic about the likely speed of economic convergence and, moreover, argue that initial temporary migration (with implications for permanent migration) will continue to be driven by non-economic goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many African countries are bedeviled with huge losses of human skills, and this, in turn, has affected thier development. From health professionals to teachers, academics and engineers, the continent has lost numerous skilled personnel who ought to be contributing extensively to its socio‐economic development. The socio‐economic development of a country hinges on the availability of skilled human resources to drive its growth. Brain drain has long being a challenge for South Africa as the country continues to lose skilled professionals to other countries, hence, the unsteady growth of its economy. Using a strict textual analysis of the relevant literature relating to brain drain in South Africa, the study found that the South African government lacks a clear cut policy on how to reduce brain drain, and this will impact the country's socioeconomic development in the long term. Using the theoretical framework of Lee's push and pull theory, the study argues that brain drain in South Africa is reinforced by certain socio‐economic factors. The paper concludes that South Africa's vision of becoming Africa's industrial hub may remain a dream if the country fails to put losing its skilled professionals under control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the challenges that migration flows pose on policymaking aimed at fostering human capital accumulation in peripheral regions. We employ a unique data set generated through a postal survey designed and conducted by the authors. The focus of our analysis is on the micro-level location decisions of a sample of highly educated and skilled individuals residing in Basilicata, an Italian Mezzogiorno region, who have benefited from a locally funded human capital investment policy. Investigamos los retos que los flujos de migración imponen en la formulación de políticas dirigidas a acoger la acumulación de capital humano en regiones periféricas. Empleamos un único conjunto de datos generado a través de un muestreo postal diseñado y llevado a cabo por los autores. El punto focal de nuestro análisis es en las decisiones de ubicación a micro-nivel de una muestra de individuos altamente educados y capacitados residentes en la Basilicata, una región del Mezzogiorno italiano, que se han beneficiado de una política de inversión en capital humano financiada localmente. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past decade, much attention has been paid to the migration-development nexus, both in academia and in the global development community. This has created what we argue in this paper can be characterized as an 'international buzz' around the issue. In this paper, we explore how two donor countries, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, have approached the nexus in their policies and practices in recent years. We examine in what ways it has been feasible to work with migration-development links, taking into account various interests and the national political climates regarding development aid and immigration policies. Important themes of the nexus, which are discussed in detail going through the policies, are remittances, engagement with migrant associations, and temporary migration schemes and programmes addressing the so-called 'brain drain' problem. We argue that the two countries represent two different trends among donors: the one does not directly link migration management with migration and development policies, as these are conceived within the national donor agencies; while the other appears to be more focused on providing better migration management through development cooperation. In the conclusion, we argue that the consensus-orientated simplicity of the buzz surrounding migration and development can be said to have had a somewhat restricting effect on the policies, in the sense that it seems to have discouraged conflicting parts of the migration-development nexus from being taken up in the national contexts. Based on our analysis of the two countries' policies, we discuss possible implications for the future, reflecting on the tendency of buzzwords to dip in and out of fashion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]