• Brain drain

Brain drain

This study examines the economic effects of migration, especially its impact on economic development. A compilation of articles are structured into two parts in the volume. Through four case studies (using Mexico, Guatemala and the Philippines), part one examines the determinants of migration, and the impact of migration and remittances on various development indicators, and measures of welfare, including poverty and inequality; investments in education, health, housing and other productive activities; entrepreneurship; and child labour and education. The second part focuses on the brain drain, presenting the largest existing data base on the brain drain, and provides analyses of the brain gain, brain waste, and the impact on productivity in destination countries.

Some of the key findings include:

• countries such as China and India only have about three to five percent of their graduates living broad. And it's a similar situation in Brazil, Indonesia and the former Soviet Union. By contrast in Sub-Saharan Africa, skilled workers only make up four percent of the total workforce. But these workers comprise more than 40 percent of people leaving the country
• overall, immigrants from Latin America and Eastern Europe with similar education levels are more likely to end up in unskilled jobs in the U.S. than immigrants from Asia, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. One of the main reasons for this is language
• regardless of the type of migrant - educated or not - the money the migrants send back home does help alleviate poverty in their former home.

[adapted from author]

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