Search

This paper presents population forecasts for China and India till 2100. The rise in sex ratios at birth in these countries has been observed to be the longest-running and most pronounced in Asia. The paper is based on different hypotheses on the future evolution of birth masculinity in each of these countries. These hypotheses are derived from an examination of present trends across Asia. The population forecasts allow us to explore the influence of various trajectories of sex ratio at birth on the demographic structures of both countries till 2100. In particular, the specific impact of skewed sex ratios on the adult population in which gender imbalances may translate into a major marriage squeeze in the future will be examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China and India, with four out of ten of the world's inhabitants, must loom large in any discussion of global international migration, especially so-called South-North migration. They have become major sources of migrants to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations. This paper focuses on the migration relationship between China and India and one of the OECD nations, Australia. Australian international migration data allow a comprehensive picture of all movement in and out of the country to be made, and for this article, flows with China and India are analysed. It is argued that the migration relationship is best depicted as a complex migration system involving flows in both directions and circularity, reciprocity, and remigration. A conceptual scheme is developed to identify the main components of the migration system and it is shown that many migrants transit between the different elements in the system. The analysis demonstrates that the traditional conceptualisation of the migration relationship between India and China on the one hand and high income countries on the other hand as being 'South-North' in nature is inappropriate. Some of the implications of reconceptualising mobility in this way for understanding the migration process and for the development of migration policy in China, India and Australia are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the topic of 'brain drain' was introduced to the United Nations' debates in the late 1960s, policy thinking on skilled migration has shifted its focus from discouraging emigration in the 1970s to encouraging returns in the 1980s, and to facilitating 'brain circulation' since the 1990s. This paper, based on a comparison between China and India in the Information Technology (IT) industry, suggests that how the highly skilled leave the home country in the first place is equally important as how they return or contribute back through transnational connections. IT professionals' migration from India with minimum government intervention may have more sustainable developmental effects than aggressive government programmes in China aimed at promoting return and transnational relations. This is because the migratory process of the Indian IT professionals is built into the dynamics of the global high-tech industry. By comparison, many programmes in China are dissociated from industry despite the heavy investment from the government. But the Chinese programmes may be more conducive for the development of basic research. In short, a proper mix of government policy and market mechanism seems a key to achieving sustainable brain circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]