Optimal Career Strategies and Brain Drain in Academia

Andrea Seidl (), Stefan Wrzaczek (), Fouad El Ouardighi () and Gustav Feichtinger
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Andrea Seidl: Vienna University of Technology
Stefan Wrzaczek: Vienna University of Technology
Fouad El Ouardighi: ESSEC Business School

Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, 2016, vol. 168, issue 1, No 14, 268-295

Abstract: Abstract Some areas of science face the problem that many academics prefer the private sector over academia. This negatively affects the quality and the quantity of the research output as well as the availability of competent lecturers in these areas. The present paper investigates by means of an optimal control model how the reward of competencies in research and teaching in the private sector affects investments into these skills as well as the decision on whether and when to optimally leave academia. As the decision between academia and industry is obvious if a scientist has strong preference for either, we focus on scenarios where this is not the case. We notably show that the dynamic trade-off between academia and industry results in various forms of brain drain. In this regard, we first confirm that if academic competencies are well rewarded in the private sector, the most competent academics will leave academia. Further, we find scenarios where a scholar with intermediate competencies will try to improve his or her skills as much as possible before leaving academia and scenarios in which it is optimal to not put much effort into work and let competencies slowly depreciate before leaving. Even if scientists are highly skilled and motivated to stay, if poor working conditions do not support knowledge acquisition, competencies will inevitably fall and academia will consist solely of mediocre scholars. The results suggest that brain drain can be destructive for academia in the long run.

Keywords: Optimal control; Academic career; History dependence; Human capital; 49N90; 90B70; 49N10; 91B08 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10957-015-0747-3

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