Kerry Howley reports on a new paper by the inestimable Michael Clemens examining a remarkable natural experiment in Fiji, the results of which further demolish “brain drain” arguments against skilled emigration. Kerry nicely captures the intuitive-once-you-think-about-it-a-second principle at work:
People locked in poor countries do not fail to invest years studying theoretical physics because they lack the appropriate imaginative capacity. If no one can afford to hire a cardiologist, no sane person is going to waste a decade studying to be one. Migration increases the returns to higher education. It transforms a questionable investment into one worth making.
Theres some good research on this at the moment.
Another good article is 'Brain Drain and Human Capital Formation in Developing Countries: Winners and Losers' by Michel Beine, Fre´deric Docquier and Hillel Rapoport, in the Economic Journal
They used data across 127 countries and found that skilled emigration had a positive effect across the developing world as a whole, however there was certain regions which lost significantly from emigration. The losers were Sub-Saharan african countries and Central American countries.
The found that where skilled migration was less than about 20% (figure is off the top of my head, might be slightly different) of total skilled workforce that countries gained from increased investment in education however when migration was of a larger proportion, the 'brain drain' from the loss of skilled labour outweighed these positive effects.
Theres some good research on this at the moment.
Another good article is 'Brain Drain and Human Capital Formation in Developing Countries: Winners and Losers' by Michel Beine, Fre´deric Docquier and Hillel Rapoport, in the Economic Journal
They used data across 127 countries and found that skilled emigration had a positive effect across the developing world as a whole, however there was certain regions which lost significantly from emigration. The losers were Sub-Saharan african countries and Central American countries.
The found that where skilled migration was less than about 20% (figure is off the top of my head, might be slightly different) of total skilled workforce that countries gained from increased investment in education however when migration was of a larger proportion, the 'brain drain' from the loss of skilled labour outweighed these positive effects.
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