International migration: brain drain vs. brain gain
Table of Contents
Introduction2
Brain Drain2
Evidence from the Caribbean4
Evidence from the Continent of Africa6
Brain Gain8
Evidence from USA9
Evidence from Germany11
Conclusion13
Figures16
Figure 1 16
Figure 216
Figure 317
Figure 417
Figure 518
Figure 618
Figure 719
Bibliography20
INTRODUCTION
A fundamental characteristic of people is their movement from place to place. The right to move was recognized globally over a half century ago with the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which grants everyone the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. However, the issues pertaining to international migration have peaked more recently as trend towards globalization accelerates. The number of people residing outside their country of birth is at all-time high of about 175 million, which is about 3% of world population, more than double than that a generation ago. It is noteworthy that 60% of the world’s migrants currently reside in the more developed regions and 40% in the less developed regions (United Nations, 2002). On one hand the vast majority of migrants are making significant contributions to their destination countries whereas international migration results in the loss of human resources for many countries of origin. These two opposing facets of international migration lead us to the following discussion of brain drain vs. brain gain.
BRAIN DRAIN
Brain Drain is a concurrent term heavily used in discussions of the social and economic issues faced by developing countries. It refers to the mass emigration of skilled labour from a country and can result from political instability within a nation, better opportunities in developed countries or the desire to seek a better standard of living. Brain drain causes countries to lose valuable professionals as it is usually entails the departure of doctors, scientists, engineers or financial...
