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Brain circulation is the circular movement of skilled labour across nations.
Brain circulation differs from brain drain which describes skilled labour from certain countries emigrating to other countries in search of better opportunities. In India one witnessed large-scale emigration of engineers from its premier engineering institutes ) in the sixties, seventies and eighties.
The late nineties and the early years of the 21st century however saw large numbers of these emigrants returning to India as prospects in India improved markedly, brought on by important economic reforms initiated in the early nineties.
There has been debate whether outflow of high skilled labor mobility should be regarded positively or negatively. The core theoretical framework for studying human capital flows dates back to at least John Hicks (1932), who noted that "differences in net economic advantages, chiefly differences in wages, are the main causes of migration". Classic literature back in 1950s~1980s also follows Hicks’ work, and has come to a consensus on receiving countries having benefits; however, sending countries lose human capital, and thus have potential negative effects of the skilled emigration (Bhagwati and Hamada, 1974).
Since the 1990s, a growing literature discusses the positive effect of high-skilled labor outflow, and argues that under certain circumstances, the brain drain may ultimately prove beneficial to the source country, and to do this while accounting for the various fiscal and technological externalities that were at the heart of the pessimistic models of the 1970s. Outflow of high-skilled labor can form a diaspora abroad, which promotes trade between the sending countries and countries that have the diaspora (Rauch and Trindale, 2002).
Some high skilled workers come back to their home countries, even though they once leave their home countries for various reasons such as political instability and wage gap. They still have connections with home countries through their extended families and friends, which can be an incentive for them to return home. Wahba (2014) points out that most migrants ponder and plan their move back home throughout their migration experience. There are growing evidences that show some immigrants decided to come back and start their new life in home countries. For example, 20 to 50% of immigrants return home or relocate to a different country within five years of their arrival (OECD, 2008). Also, almost one-third of the migrants who came to the U.S. between 1908 and 1957 returned to their home countries (Jasso and Rosenzweig, 1982). Moreover, nearly one-quarter of male migrants who came to Canada in 1996 left within five years (Aydemir and Robinson, 2008).
Some high-skilled workers return to home countries, not just move abroad. Then, why do they come back? First, they return home because they cannot adopt themselves to a new environment abroad. If they have trouble finding a job or making social connections, they might consider returning home. Dustmann and Görlach (2016) point out that if migrants struggle to assimilate or learn the language, this can contribute to their desire to return home.
Second, they return home because home countries have economic opportunities. One of the most critical reasons of high skilled outflow is wage gap between home countries and host countries. Many highly educated people go abroad to find a better job with higher salary. If home countries have a better job environment with reasonable salary, they are more likely to return home. Whether countries focus on tertiary industry or not can also be an important sign for high skilled labor abroad to return home. If countries have more budget for R&D and focus on a knowledge-based economy, workers would expect that they are more likely to get a suitable job where they can make use of their experiences abroad and contribute. Shin and Moon (2018) mentioned that some migrants abroad were interested in engaging their home countries but did not want to permanently return. Thus, it is important for governments to supplement return migration support policies.
Third, they return home because home countries offer benefits for returning from the diaspora abroad. Countries need many high skilled workers to stimulate their economic development. Thus, some countries offer benefits to highly educated people such as tax exemption, housing, and legal benefits.
Returning migrants can contribute to their home countries in various fields. First, return migration improves financial capital, entrepreneurship and social networks. They return home with a significant amount of financial capital, and a large portion of these savings is generally invested in housing and new businesses. Also, return migration has social networks around the world, which strengthens social networks within home countries and across the world (Adda et al., 2014). When migrants return home, they enhance social networks in several key ways. They build ties with other returnees and local non-migrants in job findings. They can also connect with diaspora members who remain overseas. These connections expand valuable social networks as well as professional ones.
Second, return migrants improve human capital and wage increases. The use of skills and knowledge acquired abroad can stimulate development and produce higher earnings at home. They also can show the importance of education through their successful career with higher education, which can increase people's expectations toward education.
Third, return migrations improve social norms and democracy. Many migrations from developing countries go to developed countries, where most countries have higher social norms with a democratic political system. Migrants are exposed to a host country's institutions, legal systems and other cultural norms. Batista and Vicente (2011) note that international migration can increase demand for improved governance. Countries can have more transparent political and economic systems through return migration.
Outflow of high-skilled labor has been considered as brain circulation, and they can potentially contribute to the home countries by bringing back their work experiences abroad.
Human capital flight is the emigration or immigration of individuals who have received advanced training at home. The net benefits of human capital flight for the receiving country are sometimes referred to as a "brain gain" whereas the net costs for the sending country are sometimes referred to as a "brain drain". In occupations with a surplus of graduates, immigration of foreign-trained professionals can aggravate the underemployment of domestic graduates, whereas emigration from an area with a surplus of trained people leads to better opportunities for those remaining. But emigration may cause problems for the home country if the trained people are in short supply there.
Human migration is the movement of people from one place to another with intentions of settling, permanently or temporarily, at a new location.
A skilled worker is any worker who has special skill, training, knowledge which they can then apply to their work. A skilled worker may have learned their skills through work experience, on-the-job training, an apprenticeship program or formal education. These skills often lead to better outcomes economically. The definition of a skilled worker has seen change throughout the 20th century, largely due to the industrial impact of the Great Depression and World War II. Further changes in globalisation have seen this definition shift further in Western countries, with many jobs moving from manufacturing based sectors to more advanced technical and service based roles. Examples of formal educated skilled labor include engineers, scientists, doctors and teachers, while examples of informal educated workers include crane operators, CDL truck drivers, machinists, drafters, plumbers, craftsmen, cooks and bookkeepers.
The Australian diaspora are those Australians living outside of Australia. It includes approximately 598,765 Australian-born people living outside of Australia, people who are Australian citizens and live outside Australia, and people with Australian ancestry who live outside of Australia.
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short-term stays in a destination country do not fall under the definition of immigration or migration; seasonal labour immigration is sometimes included, however.
The economic results of migration impact the economies of both the sending and receiving countries.
Reverse brain drain is a form of brain drain where human capital moves in reverse from a more developed country to a less developed country that is developing rapidly. These migrants may accumulate savings, also known as remittances, and develop skills overseas that can be used in their home country.
Circular migration or repeat migration is the temporary and usually repetitive movement of a migrant worker between home and host areas, typically for the purpose of employment. It represents an established pattern of population mobility, whether cross-country or rural-urban. There are several benefits associated with this migration pattern, including gains in financial capital, human capital, and social capital. There are also costs associated with circular migration, such as brain drain, poor working conditions, forced labor, and the inability to transfer acquired skills to home economies. Socially, there are strong connections to gender, health outcomes, development, poverty, and global immigration policy.
International migration occurs when people cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum length of the time. Migration occurs for many reasons. Many people leave their home countries in order to look for economic opportunities in another country. Others migrate to be with family members who have migrated or because of political conditions in their countries. Education is another reason for international migration, as students pursue their studies abroad, although this migration is sometimes temporary, with a return to the home country after the studies are completed.
Maurice Kugler is a Colombian American economist born in 1967. He received his Ph.D. in economics from UC Berkeley in 2000, as well as an M.Sc. (Econ) and a B.Sc. (Econ) both from the London School of Economics. Kugler is professor of public policy in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. Prior to this, he worked as a consultant for the World Bank, where he was senior economist before (2010-2012). Most recently he was principal research scientist and managing director at IMPAQ International.
Human capital flight from Iran has been a significant phenomenon since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Iran had a substantial drain of highly skilled and educated individuals in the early 1990s. More than 150,000 Iranians left the Islamic Republic every year in the early 1990s, and an estimated 25 percent of all Iranians with post-secondary education then lived abroad in OECD-standard developed countries. A 2009 IMF report indicated that Iran tops the list of countries that are losing their academic elite, with a loss of 150,000 to 180,000 specialists—roughly equivalent to a capital loss of US$50 billion. In addition, the political crackdown following the 2009 Iranian election protests is said to have created a "spreading refugee exodus" of Iranian intelligentsia. It has also been reported that the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States is running a covert operation code-named "Braindrain Project" with the aim of luring away nuclear-oriented Iranian talent, thus undermining Iran's nuclear program.
The labor migration policy of the Philippine government allows and encourages emigration. The Department of Foreign Affairs, which is one of the government's arms of emigration, grants Filipinos passports that allow entry to foreign countries. In 1952, the Philippine government formed the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) as the agency responsible for opening the benefits of the overseas employment program. In 1995, it enacted the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipino Act in order to "institute the policies of overseas employment and establish a higher standard of protection and promotion of the welfare of migrant workers and their families and overseas Filipinos in distress." In 2022, the Department of Migrant Workers was formed, incorporating the POEA with its functions and mandate becoming the backbone of the new executive department.
David McKenzie is a lead economist at the World Bank's Development Research Group, Finance and Private Sector Development Unit in Washington, D.C. His research topics include migration, microenterprises, and methodology for use with developing country data.
Zimbabwean Canadians are Canadian citizens of Zimbabwean descent or a Zimbabwe-born person who resides in Canada. According to the Canada 2016 Census there were 16,225 Canadian citizens who claimed Zimbabwean ancestry and 15,000 Zimbabwean citizens residing in the country at the moment of the census.
Since the fall of communism in 1989, the nature of migration to and from Poland has been in flux. After Poland's accession to the European Union and accession to the Schengen Area in particular, a significant number of Poles, estimated at over two million, have emigrated, primarily to the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Ireland. The majority of them, according to the Central Statistical Office of Poland, left in search of better work opportunities abroad while retaining permanent resident status in Poland itself.
The Malaysian diaspora are Malaysian emigrants from Malaysia and their descendants that reside in a foreign country. Population estimates vary from seven hundred thousand to one million, both descendants of early emigrants from Malaysia, as well as more recent emigrants from Malaysia. The largest of these foreign communities are in Singapore, Australia, Brunei and the United Kingdom.
Christian Dustmann, FBA, is a German economist who currently serves as Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics of University College London. There, he also works as Director of the Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), which he helped found. Dustmann belongs to the world's foremost labour economists and migration scholars.
Hillel Rapoport is an economist at the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne and Paris School of Economics. He specializes on the dynamics of migration and its impact on economic development as well as on the economics of immigration, diversity, and refugees' relocation and resettlement and ranks as one of the leading economists on the topic of migration.
Frédéric Docquier is a Belgian economist and Professor of Economics at the Catholic University of Louvain (UCLouvain). He ranks as one of the leading economists in the field of international migration, with a focus on brain drain and skilled migration.
Brain drain from Nigeria, nicknamed Japa is the exodus of middle-class and highly skilled Nigerians which has been occurring in waves since the late 1980s to early 1990s. This trend was initially restricted to certain professions but has now become free for all with the introduction of visa programs in order to fill workforce gaps in developed nations. This was sparked by an economic downturn following a period of economic boom in the 1970s and 1980s propelled by the discovery of oil wells in Nigeria.