An original data set on international migration by educational attainment for 1990 and 2000 is used to analyze the determinants of brain drain from developing countries. The analysis starts with a simple decomposition of the brain drain in two multiplicative components, the degree of openness of sending countries (measured by the average emigration rate) and the schooling gap (measured by the education level of emigrants compared with natives). Regression models are used to identify the determinants of these components and explain cross-country differences in the migration of skilled workers. Unsurprisingly, the brain drain is strong in small countries that are close to major Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) regions, that share colonial links with OECD countries, and that send most of their migrants to countries with quality-selective immigration programs. Interestingly, the brain drain increases with political instability and the degree of fractionalization at origin and decreases with natives’ human capital.
Affiliations
Regional Government of WalloniaIWEPS
Georgetown UniversityIntitute for the study of International Migration
Docquier, F., Lohest, O., & Marfouk, A. (2007). Brain drain in developing countries. The World Bank Economic Review, 21(2), 193-218. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhm008 (Original work published 2007)