The DOI matches its Crossref record; 85 of the 85 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Globalization, Brain Drain, and Development
Open accessAbstract
This paper reviews four decades of economics research on the brain drain, with a focus on recent contributions and on development issues. We first assess the magnitude, intensity, and determinants of the brain drain, showing that brain drain (or high-skill) migration is becoming a dominant pattern of international migration and a major aspect of globalization. We then use a stylized growth model to analyze the various channels through which a brain drain affects the sending countries and review the evidence on these channels. The recent empirical literature shows that high-skill emigration need not deplete a country's human capital stock and can generate positive network externalities. Three case studies are also considered: the African medical brain drain, the exodus of European scientists to the United States, and the role of the Indian diaspora in the development of India's information technology sector. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of the analysis for education, immigration, and international taxation policies in a global context. (JEL F02, F22, J24, J61, O15)
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Cites
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Cited by
Climatic factors as determinants of international migration
Beine, M., & Parsons, C. (2015) · The Scandinavian Journal of Economics · doi:10.1111/sjoe.12098 · Cited by 447
Globalization and internationalization as frameworks for higher education research
Tight, M. (2021) · Research Papers in Education · doi:10.1080/02671522.2019.1633560 · Cited by 187
Immigrant entrepreneurship in America: Evidence from the survey of business owners 2007 & 2012
Pekkala Kerr, S., & Kerr, W. (2020) · Research Policy · doi:10.1016/j.respol.2019.103918 · Cited by 127
Diasporas and Outsourcing: Evidence from oDesk and India
Ghani, E., Kerr, W. R., & Stanton, C. (2014) · Management Science · doi:10.1287/mnsc.2013.1832 · Cited by 118
Brain drain or brain gain? Effects of high-skilled international emigration on origin countries
Batista, C., Han, D., Haushofer, J., Khanna, G., McKenzie, D., Mobarak, A. M., Theoharides, C., & Yang, D. (2025) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.adr8861 · Cited by 50
Metadata
- Authors
- Docquier, F., & Rapoport, H.
- Venue
- Journal of Economic Literature
- Publisher
- American Economic Association
- Published
- 2012-09-01
- Volume
- 50
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 681-730
- ISSN
- 0022-0515 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2006558352
- Cited by
- 1,083
- References
- 85
- FWCI
- 195.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
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