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The African Brain Drain: Scope and Determinants

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Author Info
Abdeslam Marfouk () (DULBEA-CERT, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels)

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Abstract

This paper empirically examines the determinants of highly-skilled emigration from Africa with recent original data set on international migration. The analysis shows that 10 out of the 53 African countries have lost more than 35 per cent of the their tertiary educated labor force and countries such as Cape Verde (68 percent), Gambia (63 percent), Seychelles (56 percent), Maurice (56 percent) and Sierra Leone (53 percent) suffered from a massive brain drain. Regression models reveal that economic and noneconomic considerations have a strong impact on the African brain drain. This study finds that the degree of fractionalization (ethnic, linguistic and religious) at origin countries, jobs opportunities at destination countries, selective immigration policies, wage gap, geographical distance, former colonial links, and linguistic proximity between countries of origin and destination are the main forces driving highly-skilled emigration from Africa.

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Paper provided by Université libre de Bruxelles, Department of Applied Economics (DULBEA) in its series Working Papers DULBEA with number 08-07.RS.

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Length: 36 pages
Date of creation: Mar 2008
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Handle: RePEc:dul:wpaper:08-07rs

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Keywords: International Migration; Human Capital; African Brain Drain; Labor Mobility;

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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Benoît Mahy & François Rycx & Mélanie Volral, 2008. "L’influence de la dispersion salariale sur la performance des grandes entreprises belges," Working Papers DULBEA 08-13.RS, Université libre de Bruxelles, Department of Applied Economics (DULBEA). [Downloadable!]
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  2. Hassan Ayoub & Jérôme Creel & Etienne Farvaque, 2008. "Détermination du niveau des prix et finances: le cas du Liban, 1965-2005," Working Papers DULBEA 08-10.RS, Université libre de Bruxelles, Department of Applied Economics (DULBEA). [Downloadable!]
  3. Olivier Debande & Jean-Luc De Meulemeester, 2008. "Quality and variety competition in higher education," Working Papers DULBEA 08-12.RS, Université libre de Bruxelles, Department of Applied Economics (DULBEA). [Downloadable!]
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  4. Oscar Bernal & Kim Oosterlinck & Ariane Szafarz, 2009. "Observing bailout expectations during a total eclipse of the sun," Working Papers DULBEA 09-01.RS, Université libre de Bruxelles, Department of Applied Economics (DULBEA). [Downloadable!]
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  5. Pierre-Guillaume Méon & Ariane Szafarz, 2008. "Labor market discrimination as an agency cost," Working Papers DULBEA 08-19.RS, Université libre de Bruxelles, Department of Applied Economics (DULBEA). [Downloadable!]
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  6. Charles Plaigin, 2009. "Exploratory study on the presence of cultural and institutional growth spillovers," Working Papers DULBEA 09-03.RS, Université libre de Bruxelles, Department of Applied Economics (DULBEA). [Downloadable!]
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