The new economics of the brain drain

Stark, Oded (2005): The new economics of the brain drain. Published in: World Economics , Vol. 6, No. 2 (2005): pp. 137-140.

Abstract

For nearly four decades now, the conventional wisdom has been that the migration of human capital (skilled workers) from a developing country to a developed country is detrimental to the developing country. However, this perception need not hold. A well designed migration policy can result in a “brain gain” to the developing country rather than in just a “brain drain” from it, as well as in a welfare increase for all of its workers - migrants and non-migrants alike - as new research suggests.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: migration; human capital formation; externalities; social welfare
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business > F22 - International Migration; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I3 - Welfare and Poverty > I30 - General; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J6 - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies > J61 - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J24 - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity; H - Public Economics > H2 - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue > H23 - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies

References

Bhagwati, Jagdish and Wilson, John D. 1989. Income Taxation and International Mobility. Cambridge, MA.: MIT Press.

Carrington, William J. and Detragiache, Enrica. 1999. “How Extensive Is the Brain Drain?” Finance and Development 36: 46-49.

Grubel, Herbert B. and Scott, Anthony D. 1966. “The international flow of human capital.” American Economic Review 56: 268-274.

World Bank. 1995. World Development Report 1995. New York: Oxford University Press.