IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/h/pal/intecp/978-0-230-24217-3_6.html
   My bibliography  Save this book chapter

A Gain with a Drain? Evidence from Rural Mexico on the New Economics of the Brain Drain

In: Corruption, Development and Institutional Design

Author

Listed:
  • Steve Boucher
  • Oded Stark
  • J. Edward Taylor

Abstract

Recent theoretical work suggests conditions under which a positive probability of migration from a developing country stimulates human capital formation in that country and improves the welfare of migrants and non-migrants alike (Stark et al., 1997, 1998; Stark and Wang, 2002). This ‘brain gain’ hypothesis contrasts with the received, long-held ‘brain drain’ argument, which stipulates that the migration of skilled workers depletes the human capital stock and lowers welfare in the sending country (Usher, 1977; Blomqvist, 1986). The ‘brain gain’ view is that a strictly positive probability of migrating to destinations where the returns to human capital are higher than at origin creates incentives to acquire more human capital in migrant-sending areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Steve Boucher & Oded Stark & J. Edward Taylor, 2009. "A Gain with a Drain? Evidence from Rural Mexico on the New Economics of the Brain Drain," International Economic Association Series, in: János Kornai & László Mátyás & Gérard Roland (ed.), Corruption, Development and Institutional Design, chapter 6, pages 100-119, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:intecp:978-0-230-24217-3_6
    DOI: 10.1057/9780230242173_6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Beine, Michel & Docquier, Frederic & Rapoport, Hillel, 2001. "Brain drain and economic growth: theory and evidence," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 275-289, February.
    2. Stark, Oded & Wang, Yong, 2002. "Inducing human capital formation: migration as a substitute for subsidies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 29-46, October.
    3. Schultze, Uta, 2000. "Insights from Physics into Development Processes: Are Fat Tails Interesting for Development Research?," Discussion Papers 280882, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    4. Stark, Oded, 2000. "On a Variation in the Economic Performance of Migrants by their Home Country's Wage," Discussion Papers 281248, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    5. Stark, Oded & Wang, Yong, 2002. "Inducing human capital formation: migration as a substitute for subsidies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 29-46, October.
    6. Stark, Oded & Helmenstein, Christian & Prskawetz, Alexia, 1998. "Human capital depletion, human capital formation, and migration: a blessing or a "curse"?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 60(3), pages 363-367, September.
    7. Judson, Ruth A. & Owen, Ann L., 1999. "Estimating dynamic panel data models: a guide for macroeconomists," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 9-15, October.
    8. Usher, Dan, 1977. "Public Property and the Effects of Migration upon Other Residents of the Migrants' Countries of Origin and Destination," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 85(5), pages 1001-1020, October.
    9. Kochar, Anjini, 2004. "Urban influences on rural schooling in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 113-136, June.
    10. Blomqvist, Ake G, 1986. "International Migration of Educated Manpower and Social Rates of Return to Education in LDCs," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 27(1), pages 165-174, February.
    11. Msuya, John, 1999. "Nutrition Improvement Projects in Tanzania: Appropriate Choice of Institutions Matters," Discussion Papers 280058, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    12. Kaivan Munshi, 2003. "Networks in the Modern Economy: Mexican Migrants in the U. S. Labor Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(2), pages 549-599.
    13. Wimmer, Andreas & Schetter, Conrad, 2002. "State-Formation First. Recommendations For Reconstruction And Peace-Making In Afghanistan," Discussion Papers 18740, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    14. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Docquier, Frederic & Rapoport, Hillel, 2004. "Skilled migration: the perspective of developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3382, The World Bank.
    2. Frédéric Docquier & Hillel Rapoport, 2012. "Globalization, Brain Drain, and Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(3), pages 681-730, September.
    3. Frédéric Docquier & Elisabetta Lodigiani, 2010. "Skilled Migration and Business Networks," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 565-588, September.
    4. Lall, Somik V. & Selod, Harris & Shalizi, Zmarak, 2006. "Rural-urban migration in developing countries : a survey of theoretical predictions and empirical findings," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3915, The World Bank.
    5. Beine, Michel & Docquier, Frédéric & Oden-Defoort, Cecily, 2011. "A Panel Data Analysis of the Brain Gain," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 523-532, April.
    6. Luca Marchiori & I-Ling Shen & Frédéric Docquier, 2013. "Brain Drain In Globalization: A General Equilibrium Analysis From The Sending Countries' Perspective," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(2), pages 1582-1602, April.
    7. Bertoli, Simone & Brücker, Herbert, 2011. "Selective immigration policies, migrants' education and welfare at origin," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 19-22, October.
    8. Di Maria, Corrado & Lazarova, Emiliya A., 2012. "Migration, Human Capital Formation, and Growth: An Empirical Investigation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 938-955.
    9. Mduma, John K. & Wobst, Peter, 2005. "Village Level Labor Market Development in Tanzania: Evidence from Spatial Econometrics," Discussion Papers 276260, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    10. Oded Stark & C. Simon Fan, 2009. "The Brain Drain, ‘Educated Unemployment’, Human Capital Formation, and Economic Betterment," International Economic Association Series, in: János Kornai & László Mátyás & Gérard Roland (ed.), Corruption, Development and Institutional Design, chapter 7, pages 120-151, Palgrave Macmillan.
    11. Lucia Rizzica, 2008. "The Impact of Skilled Migration on the Sending Country: Evidence from African Medical Brain Drain," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, vol. 98(6), pages 195-230, November-.
    12. Görlich, Dennis & Omar Mahmoud, Toman & Trebesch, Christoph, 2007. "Explaining labour market inactivity in migrant-sending families: Housework, hammock, or higher education?," Kiel Working Papers 1391, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    13. Leonid V. Azarnert, 2012. "Guest‐worker Migration, Human Capital and Fertility," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(2), pages 318-330, May.
    14. Yoshino, Naoyuki & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Otsuka, Miyu, 2020. "Determinants of international remittance inflow in Asia-Pacific middle-income countries," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 29-43.
    15. Andre Wolf, 2014. "The Inconsistency of "Brain Gain": The Schooling-Migration Nexus Revisited," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 39(3), pages 35-49, September.
    16. Ernest MIGUELEZ & Claudia NOUMEDEM TEMGOUA, 2017. "Immigration externalities, knowledge flows and brain gain," Cahiers du GREThA 2017-07, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    17. Simona Monteleone & Benedetto Torrisi, 2010. "A micro data analysis of Italy’s brain drain," Discussion Papers 4_2010, D.E.S. (Department of Economic Studies), University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy.
    18. Domenico Scalera, 2012. "Skilled Migration And Education Policies: Is There Still Scope For A Bhagwati Tax?," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 80(4), pages 447-467, July.
    19. Gordon H. Hanson, 2009. "The Economic Consequences of the International Migration of Labor," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 179-208, May.
    20. Bongers Anelí & Torres José L. & Díaz-Roldán Carmen, 2022. "Highly Skilled International Migration, STEM Workers, and Innovation," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 16(1), pages 73-89, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:intecp:978-0-230-24217-3_6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.