Brain Drain or Brain Exchange: Developing Country Implications

Brain drain, brain gain or brain sharing?

Scientists have always been ‘sans frontières’, driven by the need to acquire new knowledge and skills and to cooperate with colleagues irrespective of national borders or political divides. In fact, the migration of scientists between countries at all career stages has increased steadily over time. In a related but distinct trend, the incidence of co-authorship reflecting greater international ...

Brain drain or brain bank? The impact of skilled emigration on poor-country innovation

The development prospects of a poor country or region depend in part on its capacity for innovation. In turn, the productivity of its innovators, whom are often concentrated around urban centers, depends on their access to technological knowledge. The emigration of highly skilled individuals weakens local knowledge networks (brain drain) but may also help remaining innovators access valuable kn...

Brain drain and brain gain: the challenges of internationalisation Brain Drain: Fact or Fiction?

Brain drain

Professor Emeritus, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, UK, [email protected] In this issue, three papers discuss the issue of the brain drain: of psychiatrists from Egypt and Nigeria, and of nurses from East Africa. They explore the complexities of professional migration and its impact on the health of populations in source and recipient countries; they a...

Brain Drain and Brain Waste

When skilled workers migrate, they face the brain waste risk, i.e., they can end up employed as unskilled. We analyze the effects of brain waste on brain drain, resulting from low international transferability of skills. We show that this type of brain waste: (1) reduces education incentives; (2) weakens the chances for a positive self-selection; and (3) decreases the possibility of a brain gai...