IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/glodps/641.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Schooling Forsaken: Education and Migration

Author

Listed:
  • Abdulloev, Ilhom
  • Epstein, Gil S.
  • Gang, Ira N.

Abstract

We examine the phenomenon of forsaken schooling resulting from opportunities abroad. The brain-drain/gain literature takes as its starting point the migration of educated/professional labor from poor origin countries to richer host countries. While high-skilled emigration is troubling, even more so is that many international migrants accept low-skilled positions in host countries. Their willingness to do so arises from very large host-home earnings differentials. At home this can lead to reduced educational investment as people forgo schooling because of opportunities to migrate to high paying low-skilled jobs. This suggests possible time-inconsistencies between short-run economic gains from migration and negative long-term effects from missing human-capital investment. We analyze data from Tajikistan, where approximately one-third of the labor force works outside of the country. Our empirical results establish circumstances under forsaken schooling occurs, leaving trade-offs that policymakers’ need consider.

Suggested Citation

  • Abdulloev, Ilhom & Epstein, Gil S. & Gang, Ira N., 2020. "Schooling Forsaken: Education and Migration," GLO Discussion Paper Series 641, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:641
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/223228/1/GLO-DP-0641.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arvind Panagariya, 1988. "A Theoretical Explanation of Some Stylized Facts of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 103(3), pages 509-526.
    2. Yoram Weiss & Robert M. Sauer & Menachem Gotlibovski, 2003. "Immigration, Search, and Loss of Skill," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(3), pages 557-592, July.
    3. Piracha, Matloob & Randazzo, Teresa & Vadean, Florin, 2013. "Remittances and Occupational Outcomes of the Household Members Left-Behind," IZA Discussion Papers 7582, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Gil S. Epstein & Ira N. Gang, 2010. "Migration and Culture," Working Papers 2010-17, Bar-Ilan University, Department of Economics.
    5. Calero, Carla & Bedi, Arjun S. & Sparrow, Robert, 2009. "Remittances, Liquidity Constraints and Human Capital Investments in Ecuador," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 1143-1154, June.
    6. Ilhom Abdulloev & Gil S. Epstein & Ira N. Gang, 2014. "Ethnic Goods and Immigrant Assimilation," Working Papers 2014-03, Bar-Ilan University, Department of Economics.
    7. Ilhom Abdulloev & Ira N Gang & Myeong-Su Yun, 2014. "Migration, Education and the Gender Gap in Labour Force Participation," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 26(4), pages 509-526, September.
    8. Gil S. Epstein & Ira N. Gang, 2010. "A Political Economy of the Immigrant Assimilation: Internal Dynamics," Working Papers 2010-13, Bar-Ilan University, Department of Economics.
    9. 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.
    10. Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot & Jessie Bakens (ed.), 2015. "The Economics of Cultural Diversity," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15883.
    11. Feldman, David H & Gang, Ira N, 1990. "Financial Development and the Price of Services," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(2), pages 341-352, January.
    12. Strokova,Victoria & Ajwad,Mohamed Ihsan, 2017. "Tajikistan Jobs Diagnostic: Strategic Framework for Jobs," Jobs Group Papers, Notes, and Guides 27171695, The World Bank.
    13. Alexander M. Danzer & Oleksiy Ivaschenko, 2010. "Migration patterns in a remittances dependent economy: Evidence from Tajikistan during the global financial crisis," Migration Letters, Migration Letters, vol. 7(2), pages 190-202, October.
    14. Alejandra Cox Edwards & Manuelita Ureta, 2003. "International Migration, Remittances, and Schooling: Evidence from El Salvador," NBER Working Papers 9766, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. 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.
    16. Acosta, Pablo, 2006. "Labor supply, school attendance, and remittances from international migration : the case of El Salvador," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3903, The World Bank.
    17. Stark, Oded & Byra, Lukasz, 2012. "A back-door brain drain," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 116(3), pages 273-276.
    18. Francisca Antman, 2012. "Gender, educational attainment, and the impact of parental migration on children left behind," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 25(4), pages 1187-1214, October.
    19. Bhagwati, Jagdish N, 1984. "Why Are Services Cheaper in the Poor Countries?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 94(374), pages 279-286, June.
    20. Ilhom Abdulloev, 2018. "Job dissatisfaction and migration: evidence from Tajikistan," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-27, December.
    21. Abdulloev Ilhom & Epstein Gil S. & Gang Ira N., 2020. "Migration and Forsaken Schooling in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-27, January.
    22. Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), 2013. "International Handbook on the Economics of Migration," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 4026.
    23. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, April.
    24. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Pozo, Susan, 2010. "Accounting for Remittance and Migration Effects on Children's Schooling," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(12), pages 1747-1759, December.
    25. Stark, Oded & Helmenstein, Christian & Prskawetz, Alexia, 1997. "A brain gain with a brain drain," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 227-234, August.
    26. Epstein, Gil S. & Hillman, Arye L., 2003. "Unemployed immigrants and voter sentiment in the welfare state," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(7-8), pages 1641-1655, August.
    27. Ajwad, Mohamed Ihsan & Hut, Stefan & Abdulloev, Ilhom & Audy, Robin & de Laat, Joost & Kataoka, Sachiko & Larrison, Jennica & Nikoloski, Zlatko & Torracchi, Federico, 2014. "The skills road: skills for employability in Tajikistan," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 60024, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    28. Alexander M. Danzer & Barbara Dietz & Kseniia Gatskova, 2013. "Migration and Remittances in Tajikistan: Survey Technical Report," Working Papers 327, Leibniz Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung (Institute for East and Southeast European Studies).
    29. Michel Beine & Fréderic Docquier & Hillel Rapoport, 2008. "Brain Drain and Human Capital Formation in Developing Countries: Winners and Losers," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(528), pages 631-652, April.
    30. Ajwad, Mohamed Ihsan & de Laat, Joost & Hut, Stefan & Larrison, Jennica & Abdulloev, Ilhom & Audy, Robin & Nikoloski, Zlatko & Torracchi, Federico, 2014. "The skills road : skills for employability in the Kyrgyz Republic," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 59959, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    31. Ajwad, Mohamed Ihsan & Abdulloev, Ilhom & Audy, Robin & Hut, Stefan & de Laat, Joost & Kheyfets, Igor & Larrison, Jennica & Nikoloski, Zlatko & Torracchi, Federico, 2014. "The skills road : skills for employability in Uzbekistan," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 60023, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    32. Dai, Tiantian & Liu, Xiangbo & Xie, Biancen, 2015. "Brain drain reversal and return subsidy," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 443-455.
    33. Bhagwati, Jagdish & Hamada, Koichi, 1974. "The brain drain, international integration of markets for professionals and unemployment : A theoretical analysis," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 19-42, April.
    34. Fields, Gary S, 1974. "The Private Demand for Education in Relation to Labour Market Conditions in Less-Developed Countries," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 84(336), pages 906-925, December.
    35. Victoria Strokova & Mohamed Ihsan Ajwad, 2017. "Tajikistan Jobs Diagnostic," World Bank Publications - Reports 26029, The World Bank Group.
    36. Edwards, Alejandra Cox & Ureta, Manuelita, 2003. "International migration, remittances, and schooling: evidence from El Salvador," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 429-461, December.
    37. World Bank, 2009. "Tajikistan : Poverty Assessment," World Bank Publications - Reports 3159, The World Bank Group.
    38. Ira N. Gang & Robert C. Stuart, 1999. "Mobility where mobility is illegal: Internal migration and city growth in the Soviet Union," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 12(1), pages 117-134.
    39. Catherine Y. Co & Ira N. Gang & Myeong-Su Yun, 2000. "Returns to returning," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 13(1), pages 57-79.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Abdulloev, Ilhom, 2020. "Changes in the Forsaken Schooling and Migration Relationship in Tajikistan," IZA Discussion Papers 13435, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Abdulloev Ilhom & Epstein Gil S. & Gang Ira N., 2020. "Migration and Forsaken Schooling in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-27, January.
    3. Abdulloev Ilhom & Epstein Gil S. & Gang Ira N., 2020. "A Downside to the Brain Gain Story," Economics, Sciendo, vol. 8(2), pages 9-20, December.
    4. Abdulloev, Ilhom & Epstein, Gil S. & Gang, Ira N., 2020. "Job Status, International Migration and Educational Choice," GLO Discussion Paper Series 709, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Satoshi Shimizutani & Eiji Yamada, 2023. "Transformation of international migrants in head wind: Evidence from Tajikistan in the 2010s," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 525-549, February.

    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. Abdulloev Ilhom & Epstein Gil S. & Gang Ira N., 2020. "A Downside to the Brain Gain Story," Economics, Sciendo, vol. 8(2), pages 9-20, December.
    2. Abdulloev, Ilhom & Epstein, Gil S. & Gang, Ira N., 2020. "Job Status, International Migration and Educational Choice," GLO Discussion Paper Series 709, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Abdulloev Ilhom & Epstein Gil S. & Gang Ira N., 2020. "Migration and Forsaken Schooling in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-27, January.
    4. Abdulloev, Ilhom, 2020. "Changes in the Forsaken Schooling and Migration Relationship in Tajikistan," IZA Discussion Papers 13435, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Khraiche, Maroula & Boudreau, James, 2020. "Can lower remittance costs improve human capital accumulation in Africa?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(5), pages 1000-1021.
    6. Yui Suzuki & Yukari Suzuki, 2016. "Interprovincial Migration and Human Capital Formation in China," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 30(2), pages 171-195, June.
    7. Laurent Bossavie & Çağlar Özden, 2023. "Impacts of Temporary Migration on Development in Origin Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 38(2), pages 249-294.
    8. Dustmann, Christian & Glitz, Albrecht, 2011. "Migration and Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 327-439, Elsevier.
    9. Destrée, Nicolas & Gente, Karine & Nourry, Carine, 2021. "Migration, remittances and accumulation of human capital with endogenous debt constraints," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 38-60.
    10. Elisabetta Lodigiani, 2009. "Diaspora Externalities as a Cornerstone of the New Brain Drain Literature," Development Working Papers 277, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
    11. Dietz, Barbara & Gatskova, Kseniia & Ivlevs, Artjoms, 2015. "Emigration, Remittances and the Education of Children Staying Behind: Evidence from Tajikistan," IZA Discussion Papers 9515, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Zhang, Yi & Matz, Julia Anna, 2017. "On the train to brain gain in rural China," Discussion Papers 252443, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    13. Yumna Hasan & Waqar Wadho, 2020. "Unskilled Migration, Child labor and Human Capital Accumulation of Children in the Presence of Parental Absenteeism," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 25(2), pages 119-138, July-Dec.
    14. Björn NILSSON, 2019. "Education and migration: insights for policymakers," Working Paper 23ca9c54-061a-4d60-967c-f, Agence française de développement.
    15. Batista, Catia & Seither, Julia & Vicente, Pedro C., 2019. "Do migrant social networks shape political attitudes and behavior at home?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 328-343.
    16. Zhao, Qiran & Yu, Xiaohua & Wang, Xiaobing & Glauben, Thomas, 2014. "The impact of parental migration on children's school performance in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 43-54.
    17. Ambrosini, J. William & Mayr, Karin & Peri, Giovanni & Radu, Dragos, 2012. "The Selection of Migrants and Returnees in Romania: Evidence and Long-Run Implications," IZA Discussion Papers 6664, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Ambrosini, J. William & Mayr, Karin & Peri, Giovanni & Radu, Dragos, 2012. "The Selection of Migrants and Returnees in Romania: Evidence and Long-Run Implications," IZA Discussion Papers 6664, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    19. Jamal Bouoiyour, Amal Miftah, 2015. "Migration, remittances and educational levels of household members left behind: Evidence from rural Morocco," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 12(1), pages 21-40, July.
    20. Hatton, Timothy J., 2014. "The economics of international migration: A short history of the debate," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 43-50.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    migration; traps; poverty; inequality; education; skill;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • P46 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Consumer Economics; Health; Education and Training; Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:zbw:glodps:641. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/glabode.html .

    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.