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Emigration and Brain Drain: Evidence from the Caribbean

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Author Info
Prachi Mishra
Abstract

This paper quantifies the magnitude and nature of migration flows from the Caribbean and estimates their costs and benefits. The Caribbean countries have lost 10-40 percent of their labor force due to emigration to OECD member countries. The migration rates are particularly striking for the highskilled. Many countries have lost more than 70 percent of their labor force with more than 12 years of completed schooling-among the highest emigration rates in the world. The region is also the world's largest recipient of remittances as a percent of GDP. Remittances constituted about 13 percent of the region's GDP in 2002. Simple welfare calculations suggest that the losses due to high-skill migration (ceteris paribus) outweigh the official remittances to the Caribbean region. The results suggest that there is indeed some evidence for brain drain from the Caribbean.

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Paper provided by International Monetary Fund in its series IMF Working Papers with number 06/25.

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Length: 39 pages
Date of creation: 02 Feb 2006
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Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:06/25

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Keywords: Labor mobility Caribbean Skilled labor Immigration OECD Economic models

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This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports: References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Clark, Melissa A. & Jaeger, David A., 2002. "Natives, the Foreign-Born and High School Equivalents: New Evidence on the Returns to the GED," IZA Discussion Papers 477, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  2. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Why Do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output per Worker than Others?," NBER Working Papers 6564, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Gordon H. Hanson, 2003. "What Has Happened to Wages in Mexico since NAFTA?," NBER Working Papers 9563, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Daniel Chiquiar and Gordon H. Hanson, 2005. "International Migration, Self-Selection, and the Distribution of Wages: Evidence from Mexico and the United States," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(2), pages 239-281, April.
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  5. Rivera-Batiz, Francisco L., 1989. "The impact of international migration on real wages : Another look," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 185-192, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Beine, Michel & Docquier, Frédéric & Rapoport, Hillel, 2003. "Brain Drain and LDCs’ Growth: Winners and Losers," IZA Discussion Papers 819, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  7. Lucas, Robert E B, 1987. "Emigration to South Africa's Mines," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(3), pages 313-30, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Friedberg, Rachel M & Hunt, Jennifer, 1995. "The Impact of Immigrants on Host Country Wages, Employment and Growth," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 23-44, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Donald R. Davis & David E. Weinstein, 2002. "Technological Superiority and the Losses from Migration," NBER Working Papers 8971, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Enrica Detragiache & William Carrington, 1998. "How Big is the Brain Drain?," IMF Working Papers 98/102, International Monetary Fund.
  11. John Connell, 2000. "Migration and remittances in island microstates: a comparative perspective on the South Pacific and the Caribbean," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 24(1), pages 52-78, 03. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. George J. Borjas, 1994. "The Economics of Immigration," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 32(4), pages 1667-1717, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. James E. Rauch & Vitor Trindade, 2002. "Ethnic Chinese Networks In International Trade," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(1), pages 116-130, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. Garbis Iradian, 2007. "Rapid Growth in Transition Economies: Panel Regression Approach," IMF Working Papers 07/170, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  2. Catia Batista & Aitor Lacuesta & Pedro C. Vicente, 2007. "Brain Drain or Brain Gain? Micro Evidence from an African Success Story," Economics Series Working Papers 343, University of Oxford, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Cornelia Staritz & Judith Gold & Ruben Atoyan, 2007. "Guyana: Why Has Growth Stopped? An Empirical Study on the Stagnation of Economic Growth," IMF Working Papers 07/86, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
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