A Gain with a Drain? Evidence from Rural Mexico on the New Economics of the Brain Drain

Steve Boucher, Oded Stark and J. Edward Taylor

Chapter 6 in Corruption, Development and Institutional Design, 2009, pp 100-119 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Recent theoretical work suggests conditions under which a positive probability of migration from a developing country stimulates human capital formation in that country and improves the welfare of migrants and non-migrants alike (Stark et al., 1997, 1998; Stark and Wang, 2002). This ‘brain gain’ hypothesis contrasts with the received, long-held ‘brain drain’ argument, which stipulates that the migration of skilled workers depletes the human capital stock and lowers welfare in the sending country (Usher, 1977; Blomqvist, 1986). The ‘brain gain’ view is that a strictly positive probability of migrating to destinations where the returns to human capital are higher than at origin creates incentives to acquire more human capital in migrant-sending areas.

Keywords: Human Capital; Positive Probability; Brain Drain; Human Capital Formation; Recent Theoretical Work (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Related works:
Working Paper: Gain with a Drain? Evidence from Rural Mexico on the New Economics of the Brain Drain (2005)
Working Paper: A Gain with a Drain? Evidence from Rural Mexico on the New Economics of the Brain Drain (2005)
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DOI: 10.1057/9780230242173_6

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