The impact of parents migration on the well-being of children left behind - initial evidence from Romania

Many children grow up with parents working abroad. Economists are interested in the achievement and well-being of these "home alone" children to better understand the positive and negative aspects of migration in the sending countries. This paper examines the causal effects of parents' migration on their children left home in Romania, a country where increasingly more children are left behind in recent years. Using samples from a unique representative survey carried out in 2007 instrumental variable and bivariate probit estimates have been performed. Our initial evidence demonstrates that in Romania home alone children receive higher school grades, partly because they increase their time allocation for studying. However, they are more likely to be depressed and more often suffer from health problems especially in rural areas

A STATISTICAL APPROACH OF THE SPATIAL-TEMPORAL VARIABILITY OF A PHENOMENON USING A RO-EU COMPOSITE INDEX

This study aims at presenting a new computation index, which simultaneously measures the time and space variation of the various economic indices. The elaboration method of the space-time index is based on a matrix construct, the time and space variation of the analyzed economic index being represented via a system of vectors in plane. The practical application of the compound index is exemplified by employing the data on the growth rate of the GDP/inhabitant, calculated for two spatial entities: Romania and the European Union, for the period 1999-2008. The obtained findings confirm the fact that the proposed space-time index is a good analysis tool for the measurement of the time and space variation related to the various economic indices, as well as for testing the economic convergence for discrete time moments.space-time index; convergence; economic shock.

Physicians' brain drain - A gravity model of migration flows

Background: The past two decades have been marked by impressive growth in the migration of medical doctors. The medical profession is among the most mobile of highly skilled professions, particularly in Europe, and is also the sector that experiences the most serious labour shortages. However, surprisingly little is known about how medical doctors choose their destinations. In addition, the literature is scarce on the factors determining the sharp rise in the migration of doctors from Africa, Asia and Eastern and Southeastern Europe, and how the last economic crisis has shaped the migration flows of health professionals. Methods: We use the new module on health worker migration provided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for 2000-2016 in order to examine the channels through which OECD countries attract foreign physicians from abroad. We estimate a gravity model using the Pseudo-Poisson Maximum Likelihood estimator. Results: Our results reveal that a lower unemployment rate, good remuneration of physicians, an aging population, and a high level of medical technology at the destination are among the main drivers of physicians' brain drain. Furthermore, an analysis of the mobility of medical doctors from a number of regions worldwide shows that individuals react differently on a country-wise basis to various determinants present in the destination countries. Physicians from African countries are particularly attracted to destination countries offering higher wages, and to those where the density of medical doctors is relatively low. Concurrently, a higher demand for healthcare services and better medical technology in the receiving country drives the inflow of medical doctors from Central and Eastern Europe, while Asian doctors seem to preferentially migrate to countries with better school systems. Conclusions: This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the channels through which OECD countries attract foreign medical doctors from abroad. We find that, apart from dyadic factors, a lower unemployment rate, good remuneration of physicians, an aging population, and good medical infrastructure in the host country are among the main drivers of physicians' brain drain. Furthermore, we find that utility from migration to specific countries may be explained by the heterogeneity of origin countries

International migration, return migration, and their effects. A comprehensive review on the Romanian case

Romanian migration is today one of the biggest, complex, and dynamic migration to Western Europe. This paper is a comprehensive review of the existing literature that aims at providing a full picture of this dynamic migratory process and discusses its far-reaching consequences. It first presents and characterizes the Romanian migration through the different phases during and after state socialism. The second part of the paper is dedicated to unfolding the socio-economic effects of the Romanian migration addressing the remitting behavior and its development over the past years. The issue of return migration is also addressed stressing that return is not much developed, however it has significant impacts through the emergence of returnees’ entrepreneurship. Finally we address some of the consequences of the medical doctors’ migration which is today considered one of the main migration challenges the country is facing

DECOMPOSING THE GAP IN SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT BETWEEN FINLAND AND ROMANIA – SOME METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS

This paper analyzes the advantages and shortcomings of the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition. Using PISA data for Finland and Romania, we focus on the drawbacks of the detailed decomposition, when the explanatory variables are categorial. From the best of our knowledge, this kind of analysis is performed for the first time using PISA data. We show that, using covariates which are categorial, the partial characteristics effects can be different when we use different reference categories of the respective variable. However, the overall characteristics effect of a categorical variable does not depend on the omitted category. The more critical aspect of the interpretation of detailed decomposition, when explanatory variables are categorical, regards the unexplained part of the gap. As we empirically show, the both components of the unexplained part are sensitive to choices of the reference category. These aspects should be taken into account when we perform detailed decompositions with categorial variables

Educational performance gaps in Eastern Europe

To assess the educational performance gaps in Eastern Europe, this article takes a look at the differences in PISA test scores between Finland and seven Eastern European countries, as well as between Eastern European countries. The methodology applied is a semiparametric version of the threefold Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition. We find that main part of the average test score gap cannot be explained by the individual characteristics. Furthermore, our analysis at different quantiles provides evidence that the average test score gaps are due to the fact that poorly performing students in Finland score much higher than poorly performing students in Eastern Europe

How Far is the East? : Educational Performance in Eastern Europe

When the Soviet Union collapsed a transition process started in Eastern Europe. This included a number of reforms to adapt the educational system to the new requirements of the job market. To assess the educational systems in Eastern Europe, this paper takes a look at the gap in PISA test scores between different countries. Using PISA 2006 data we disentangle the effects that explain the gap between Finland, the best performing country, and seven Eastern European countries, as well as, between Eastern European countries. The methodology applied in this paper is a semiparametric version of the threefold Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition, an approach which is not yet used in the research regarding the differences in school outcomes. Our results show that in all cases the differences in characteristics does not explain much of the gap. The return effect is the driving force of the differences in test scores. Under our identifying assumption, our results therefore indicate that the PISA test score gap can mainly be attributed to the different efficiency of school systems and are not due to better characteristics of students in a particular country. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the gap is smaller for better students indicating that, especially for poor performing students, the efficiency of Eastern European schools is behind the efficiency of Finnish schools

Physicians' brain drain - A gravity model of migration flows

Background: The past two decades have been marked by impressive growth in the migration of medical doctors. The medical profession is among the most mobile of highly skilled professions, particularly in Europe, and is also the sector that experiences the most serious labour shortages. However, surprisingly little is known about how medical doctors choose their destinations. In addition, the literature is scarce on the factors determining the sharp rise in the migration of doctors from Africa, Asia and Eastern and Southeastern Europe, and how the last economic crisis has shaped the migration flows of health professionals. Methods: We use the new module on health worker migration provided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for 2000-2016 in order to examine the channels through which OECD countries attract foreign physicians from abroad. We estimate a gravity model using the Pseudo-Poisson Maximum Likelihood estimator. Results: Our results reveal that a lower unemployment rate, good remuneration of physicians, an aging population, and a high level of medical technology at the destination are among the main drivers of physicians' brain drain. Furthermore, an analysis of the mobility of medical doctors from a number of regions worldwide shows that individuals react differently on a country-wise basis to various determinants present in the destination countries. Physicians from African countries are particularly attracted to destination countries offering higher wages, and to those where the density of medical doctors is relatively low. Concurrently, a higher demand for healthcare services and better medical technology in the receiving country drives the inflow of medical doctors from Central and Eastern Europe, while Asian doctors seem to preferentially migrate to countries with better school systems. Conclusions: This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the channels through which OECD countries attract foreign medical doctors from abroad. We find that, apart from dyadic factors, a lower unemployment rate, good remuneration of physicians, an aging population, and good medical infrastructure in the host country are among the main drivers of physicians' brain drain. Furthermore, we find that utility from migration to specific countries may be explained by the heterogeneity of origin countries