Globalization, skilled migration and poverty alleviation: brain drains in context

The debate on the ‘brain drain’, or the emigration of skilled workers, is not new but it has taken on greater urgency in the context of a globalizing economy and ageing societies. Today, the developed world is perceived as poaching the best and the brightest from the developing world, thus prejudicing those countries of their chance of development. This paper starts with two guarded caveats: first, that any brain drain is as much internal within any country as it is among countries and, second, that the skilled migration system should not be seen in isolation from other types of migration. The paper reviews the data available for the analysis of skilled migration and identifies the main global trends. It goes on to examine the globalization of education and of health as reflected in the movement of students and health personnel. Large numbers of people from developing countries are being trained overseas and, of those trained at home, many cannot be absorbed productively into their economies of origin. The paper examines the case for a two-tiered health training system, one for global markets and the other for local markets. Retention and return of the skilled are examined through the potential for outsourcing in both education and health care. However, the association between the presence or absence of health personnel and the health status of a population is seen as simplistic. The paper concludes with an examination of policy contradictions within the global system towards skilled migration and offers pointers towards a more integrated approach

Motivations of UK students to study abroad: a survey of school-leavers

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Quantifying international migration : a database of bilateral migrant stocks

This paper introduces four versions of an international bilateral migration stock database for 226 by 226 countries and territories. The first three versions each consist of two matrices, the first containing migrants defined by country of birth, that is, the foreign-born population; the second, by nationality, that is, the foreign population. Wherever possible, the information is collected from the 2000 round of censuses, though older data are included where this information was unavailable. The first version of the matrices contains as much data as could be collated at the time of writing but also contains gaps. The later versions progressively use a variety of techniques to estimate the missing data. The final matrix, comprising only the foreign-born, attempts to reconcile all of the available information to provide the researcher with a single and complete matrix of international bilateral migrant stocks. The final section of the paper describes some of the patterns evident in the database. For example, immigration to the United States is dominated by Latin America, whereas Western European immigration draws heavily on Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean region. Over one-third of world migration is from developing to industrial countries and about a quarter between developing countries. Intra-developed country and intra-FSU (former Soviet Union) flows each account for about 15 percent of the total. Over half of migration is between countries with linguistic ties. Africa accounts for 8 percent of Western Europe's immigration and much less of that to other rich regions.Population Policies,International Migration,Human Migrations&Resettlements,Voluntary and Involuntary Resettlement,Statistical&Mathematical Sciences

Australia, Hong Kong and 1997: the population connection

What is the likely impact for migration to Australia of Hong Kong's incorporation into the People's Republic of China in 1997? Recent movements of people to and from Australia and Hong Kong suggest it may not be as great as some imagine

Pohybem k cili

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[Review] Janet W Salaff, Siu-Lun Wong and Arent Greve (2010) Hong Kong: migrant lives, landscapes, and journeys

Hong Kong Movers and Stayers: Narratives of Family Migration. Janet W. Salaff, Siu-Lun Wong and Arent Greve. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2010. viii + 259 pp. 30.00;£20.99.ISBN978−0−252−07704−3 Hong Kong: Migrant Lives, Landscapes, and Journeys. Caroline Knowles and Douglas Harper. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2009.vi + 270pp. 19.00; £13.00. ISBN 978-0-226-44857-2

Moving: migration, mobility

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Linkages between migration and poverty: the Millennium Development Goals and population mobility

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Cracking down on the HIV/AIDS crisis: can global targets work?

Globally, 40 million people live with HIV/AIDS; 5 million people were infected with HIV in 2001. Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 6 to halt and reverse the spread of the disease is critical to other aspects of human development. However, this goal must consider how the disease develops in different regional and national contexts