Brain Drain out of the Blue: Pollution-Induced Migration in Vietnam

Quy Khuc (), Minh-Hoang Nguyen, Tri Le, Truc-Le Nguyen, Thuy Nguyen, Hoang Khac Lich and Quan Hoang Vuong
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Minh-Hoang Nguyen: Centre for Interdisciplinary Social Research, Phenikaa University, Yen Nghia Ward, Ha Dong District, Hanoi 100803, Vietnam
Truc-Le Nguyen: Center for Economic Development Studies and Faculty of Political Economy, VNU University of Economics and Business, Vietnam National University, Hanoi 100000, Vietnam
Thuy Nguyen: Vietkaplab, Hanoi 100000, Vietnam
Hoang Khac Lich: Personnel Department, University of Economics and Business, Vietnam National University, Hanoi 100000, Vietnam

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 6, 1-20

Abstract: Air pollution is a major problem that severely affects the health of inhabitants in developing countries’ urban areas. To deal with the problem, they may consider migration to another place as an option, which can result in the loss of skillful and talented workforces. This situation is called the brain drain phenomenon. The current study employed the Bayesian mindsponge framework (BMF) on the responses of 475 urban inhabitants in Hanoi, Vietnam—one of the most polluted capital cities in the world—to examine the risk of losing talented workforces due to air pollution. Our results show that people with higher educational levels are more likely to have intentions to migrate both domestically and internationally due to air pollution. Regarding the domestic migration intention, younger people and males have a higher probability of migrating than their counterparts. Age and gender also moderate the association between educational level and international migration intention, but their reliability needs further justification. Based on these findings, we suggest that environmental stressors caused by air pollution can influence citizen displacement intention on a large scale through the personal psychological mechanism of cost-benefit judgment. Due to the risk of air pollution on human resources, building an eco-surplus culture is crucial for enhancing environmental and socio-economic resilience.

Keywords: air pollution; brain drain; emigration; Bayesian mindsponge framework (BMF) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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