The main aim of this paper is to investigate the causes and consequences of the brain – drain phenomenon in Western Balkan Countries with special emphasis in Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania. Brain Drain phenomenon has begin  to be overwhelming due to the fears of migration of the young and educated workforce  as the youth do not see prospects in the countries of origin. Due the lack of data we try to represent only the problems that may cause the phenomenon of the “brain – drain”, in the countries that are taking into consideration We go through analysis of some main indicators such us:(i) high unemployment rate for degree holders (ii) skilled mismatch in labor market, (iv) luck of opportunity for career advancement, (v) salaries. Regarding the review of related literature and our statistical analysis we came in conclusion that the ambitious expectations of students for the future necessarily require re-thinking of the current choice. This implies at the same time the demand for the development of quality education and professional training geared to the socio-economic needs of the country. Thus, the well educated workforce will contribute in the country of origin. Key Words: brain drain, unemployment, standard of living, labor marke

Bytyqi, Shaip

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International Institute for Science, Technology and Education (IISTE): E-Journals

Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development                                                                                                                        www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1700 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2855 (Online) Vol.9, No.24, 2018  110 Brain Drain Phenomenon in Western Balkan Countries with Special Emphasis in Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania  Shaip Bytyqi*  Faculty of Economics,AAB University, Prishtina,Kosovo *E-mail of the corresponding author: shaip.bytyqi@universitetiaab.com Abstract The main aim of this paper is to investigate the causes and consequences of the brain – drain phenomenon in Western Balkan Countries with special emphasis in Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania. Brain Drain phenomenon has begin  to be overwhelming due to the fears of migration of the young and educated workforce  as the youth do not see prospects in the countries of origin. Due the lack of data we try to represent only the problems that may cause the phenomenon of the “brain – drain”, in the countries that are taking into consideration We go through analysis of some main indicators such us:(i) high unemployment rate for degree holders (ii) skilled mismatch in labor market, (iv) luck of opportunity for career advancement, (v) salaries. Regarding the review of related literature and our statistical analysis we came in conclusion that the ambitious expectations of students for the future necessarily require re-thinking of the current choice. This implies at the same time the demand for the development of quality education and professional training geared to the socio-economic needs of the country. Thus, the well educated workforce will contribute in the country of origin.  Key Words: brain drain, unemployment, standard of living, labor market  1. Introduction An important and often-debated issue in developing countries is that of "brain drain", understood as the country's loss of human capital migration with university education along with the simultaneous absence of "innovation" in the labor market. In the sociology of knowledge, the concept of "brain drain", i.e. the phenomenon of removal, displacement or even capital fluctuations or human resources from one country to another, is the cause of security and quality of life, carrier opportunities for students, high salaries etc.  In reality, in many countries and countries of the region may be different reasons and pretexts for making this decision, not so easy for decision-makers. These reasons and pretexts may be of a nature: •  Politics (lack of permanent consolidation of local state institutions and capacities); •  Economics (crisis and inability to survive); • Social (permanent poverty), etc. Why can the manifestation of the "brain-drain" phenomenon occur in developing countries, specifically in the Western Balkan Countries? In many studies, it has been shown that in the Western Balkan Countries; with particular emphasis in Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania have an uncontrolled  - overproduction  of cadres within the framework of the current education system, which is also identified as one of the main generators of the crisis in deepening and strengthening the gap between the employed and the unemployed. But the dilemma that we take into account through this scientific paper is precisely in the direction of identifying the causes and consequences of the brain drain phenomenon in Kosovo, Albania and Macedonia. Since the power of a country is interpreted through its educated and qualified workforce, a skilled and capable workforce young people should be counted in the countries of origin as an innovation and thus stimulate economic growth. But where's the problem? The main problem is the lack of a network between academic institutions - universities, the private and public sectors. Educated workforce cannot be seen as negative externalities that many researchers have tried to find through their research papers but  the educated workforce should be geared towards a qualified workforce in terms of quality rather than interpreted in terms of quantity. This dimension emphasizes the importance of networking between Academic Institutions and the Private Sector to mitigate the disproportion between supply and demand for real- skills in the private sector.   Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development                                                                                                                        www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1700 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2855 (Online) Vol.9, No.24, 2018  111 2. Review of related literature There is also a literature which focuses on the macro effects of migration. Papatisha (2005) argued that studying overseas enhance the social and cultural development of migrants and therefore leads to human capital gains. Poutvaara (2004) argued that while migration fosters private investment in human capital, it will lead to a reduction of public investment in education, due to free riding.  Nobel Prize Laureate Robert Lucas raised a famous query in his paper: “Why doesn’t capital flow from rich to poor countries?” Paraphrasing Lucas, we could state 19 that human capital doesn’t flow from poor to rich countries, but rather from countries of low‐quality education to those of high‐quality education.  Mak and Moncur (2001) found that higher wages in the country of origin positively affect the rate of migration. It is so, because agents with higher income can bear the costs of migration more easily and have better possibilities to invest in high quality of education. Young, well-educated, healthy individuals are most likely to migrate, especially in pursuit of higher education and economic improvement (Awases M, Gbary A, Nyoni J, Chatora R,2003) Alongside the economic factor, there are also identified factors such as: "low level of public security, lack of citizen confidence in improving the situation in the country where corruption and organized crime paralyze the normal functioning of state institutions".Removing the intellectuals and especially the youth has serious consequences: Our countries flee the best part of human capital, the locomotive of its economic and social development. Youth outbreak is shrinking activity and productivity in the private sector and is slowing down the pace of the Balkan countries' accession process with the EU, a process that has been estimated as a catalyst for social emancipation, law enforcement, and the pursuit of major reforms. Although there is no accurate statistics on the number, ethnicity, and educational profile of the displaced from Kosovo, Macedonia or Albania in recent years, various World Bank reports indicate that countries are losing the most vital population such as an educated workforce. This trend is present in all the Balkan countries, so the states of the region are alarmed to undertake measures to create jobs, invest in human capital and generate income generating opportunities in order to mitigate the emigration of citizens. The analysis of this international financial institution shows that low economic growth, high unemployment, income at the level of one-third of the EU impose new generations to emigrate in search of better economic opportunities. Although demographic science estimates that the main causes of external migration are economic ones, professional perfection, political and military crises, in Macedonia and the countries of the region in recent years, primarily as a result of the expulsion of educated young people, is dissatisfaction with the economic situation, the employment problem and the lack of perspective, Time newspaper reports. Demographic experts estimate that the only benefit from youth migration is their financial assistance to their families in the homeland, while the losses are numerous, ranging from birthrate, labor market gaps, and loss of a substantial part of professionals from different fields. In the meantime, various research has shown that the causes of brain drain outside the countries that are considered the countries where the well-educated migrants leave the Balkan: (i)the largest salaries in the western world; (ii) the most organized environment in the western states: (iii) the possibility of advancing in career as well: (iv) the great society politicization   3. Research methodology and data The research methodology used in this paper starts with bibliographic research explaining the concepts and notions regarding brain drain phenomenon. We use the quantitative method in describing and analyzing statistical data gathered from World Bank Indicators and State Statistical Office in Western Balkans Countries.  The data used in this paper are secondary data including data on the rate of unemployment by age, gender and educational level and also the data for immigrated citizens. We also highlight the main limitation of this paper as luck of data we cannot conduct and adopt the regression analysis to measure the impact of brain drain phenomenon in economic growth.   Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development                                                                                                                        www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1700 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2855 (Online) Vol.9, No.24, 2018  112  4. Interpretation of Results  Tabela 1. Analyze the unemployment trend by gender, age 15-24 and education level  Source: Data is provided by World Bank indicators and processed by the author, http: //databank.worldbank.org/data/report In this table is represented the unemployment trend by gender, age 15-24 and education level. Regarding the level of unemployment with education attainment as %  of total force with basic education in Kosovo for year 2013-16 there was 47.6,in Macedonia was 26.1 and in Albania 11.5. The percentage of unemployment with intermediate education (2013-2016) in Kosovo was 36.7, in Macedonia 22.7 and in Albania 22.9. The unemployment rate by advanced education attainment  ( 203-16) in Kosovo was 8.2 in Macedonia 21 and in Albania 21.5.  Table 2. Trend of unemployment rate by level of education including: low, middle and higher education     Unemployment Youth unemployment Unemployment by educational attainment   Male female Male female Basic Intermediate Advanced   % of male labor force % of female labor force % of male labor force ages 15-24 % of female labor force ages 15-24 % total force with basic education % total force with intermediate education % total force with advanced education   2000 2016 2000 2016 2000 2016 2000 2016 2013-16 2013-16 2013-16 Kosovo .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 47.6 36.7 8.2 Macedonia 32.2 24.3 32.2 22.7 55.5 47.9 54.7 48.7 26.1 22.7 21 Albania 18.2 15.7 29.3 14.5 42.5 34 27.6 30.4 11.5 22.9 21.5  Source: Data is provided by World Bank indicators and processed by the author, http: //databank.worldbank.org/data/reports Year Unemployment with basic education Unemployment with intermediate education Unemployment with advanced education   Kosovo Albania  Macedonia Kosovo Albania  Macedonia Kosovo Albania  Macedonia 2010   13.8 36.6   19.7 33.4   14.4 24.8 2011   10.5 33.2   17.5 31.8   18.7 26.3 2012   8.4 31.3   13.2 31.9   19.2 26 2013   10.3 31.2   17 28.9   16.2 26.7 2014 49 10.8 29.9 45.2 20.7 29.8 27.1 18.2 24.6 2015 39.5 11.5 26.3 41.1 22.9 25.9 28 21.5 22.5 2016 47.6  26.1 36.7  22.7 8.2  21 2017     20.5     22.3     21.7 Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development                                                                                                                        www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1700 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2855 (Online) Vol.9, No.24, 2018  113 In second table is shown the trend of unemployment rate  by level of education including low, middle and higher education. Unemployment with basic education in Kosovo has decreasing trend in 2014 there rate of unemployment was 49 in 2016 was 47.6. Albania also has decreasing trend of unemployment with basic education in 2010 the rate was 13.8 and in 2015 11.5. The rate f unemployment it basic education in Macedonia in 0010 was 36 and in 2016 was 26.1 ( also decreasing trend). Regarding the trends of unemployment with intermediate education Kosovo and Macedonia have decreasing trends on the other hand Albania has increasing trend. Regarding the trend of unemployment with advanced education Kosovo has sharp decrease trend such us in 2014 the rate was 27.1 and in 2016 the rate was 8.2. Albania has increasing trend of unemployment with advanced education in 2010 the rate was 14.4 and in 2015 the rate 21.5. Macedonia has decreasing trend of unemployment with advanced education in 2010 the rate was 24.8 and in 2016 the rate was  21.7.  Tabela 3.  Immigration of the population in Macedonia according to the level of education  Immigrated citizens by Educational Attainment  Year without school incomplete primary education (1-4 grade and 5-7 grade primary school) Primary school Secon-dary school Higher school Univer-sity Master's degree Docto-rate un-known Total 2007 27 10 60 73 5 3     46 224 2008 67 32 235 292 14 28 8 3 61 740 2009 55 48 169 362 43 62 10 7 13 769 2010 43 30 160 349 33 68 8 2 230 923 2011 64 41 274 544 58 93 10 4 55 1143 2012 36 36 376 556 60 108 11 6 141 1330 2013 20 14 163 325 30 90 16 1 286 945 2014 15 16 98 229 38 75 4 3 262 740 2015 17 14 84 245 25 83 11 1 287 767 2016 8 5 27 110 11 30 2 1 246 440 2017 6 3 19 35 1 8   1 68 141 Source: The data were provided by the Macedonian Statistical Office in Macedonia and processed by the author, www.stat.gov.mk / publication In the above table is shown the level immigration of the population in Macedonia according to the level of education for time period 2007-2017. Regarding the immigrated citizens with university (bachelor degree)  the trend is increasing for time period 2007( was 3)  - 2012 ( was 108 ), from 2013 till 2017 the trend was decreased.   5.Conclusions and  recommendations  Generally, the labor market is an open platform that seeks to adapt supply and demand for jobs both in quantity and quality, but in reality this market in Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and the region does not function in this way first from the employer's own structure categorized here: the public and real sector. When we are more or less aware that offer are "closed in the public sector" to the real one, given that a significant percentage of businesses are 1-4 and are considered family members, a very small part of it is still to be discussed of international companies to broadcast an open job offer. Any country that wants to develop the economy and the well-being of citizens must do much more for the "younger generation" that is considered the comparative advantage and the future of a people and thus gives hope to young people for a bright future. Regarding the UNESCO (2017) report the ambitious expectations of students for the future necessarily require re-thinking of the current choice. This implies at the same time the demand for the development of quality education and professional training geared to the socio-economic needs of the country. For this reason, it is Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development                                                                                                                        www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1700 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2855 (Online) Vol.9, No.24, 2018  114 necessary for higher education institutions to be guided by the quality principles suggested by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, counting some of them as:  Ensuring quality academic programs and across comparable boundaries  Recognize that the quality of teaching and research is based on the quality of the faculty and the quality of their working conditions that promote and develop independent and critical research  To develop and maintain or review existing quality management systems so that they can fully utilize the competences of key actors such as: academic staff, administrators, students  Continuing the quality of academic programs that need to be oriented towards real-life skills needs in the labor market above all it is necessary to improve and adapt young people (students) and their parents to be informed about the conditions that offers the real market and so better to plan their career.  References • Papatsiba, V. 2005. “Political and Individual Rationales of Student Mobility: a Case Study of Erasmus and a French Regional Scheme for Studies Abroad”, European Journal of Education, 40 (2): 173‐188.  • Poutvaara, P. 2004. “Public Education in an Integrated Europe. Studying to Migrate and Teaching to Stay”, CESifo Working Paper, n. 1369. • Mak, J. and J.E.T. Moncur. 2001. “Interstate Migration of College Freshmen: An Economic Analysis.” mimeo. • .Awases M, Gbary A, Nyoni J, Chatora R. Migration of Health Professionals In Six Countries: Report. Brazzaville: WHO Regional Office For Africa, 2003  • Education for Sustainable Development Goals Learning Objectives 2017,the global education education 2030 agenda • Adomßent, M. and Hoffmann, T. 2013. The concept of competencies in the context of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). ESD Expert Network. http://esd expert.net/assets/130314-ConceptPaper-ESD-Competencies.pdf (Accessed 16 October 2016)  • Barth, M. 2015. Implementing sustainability in higher education: learning in an age of transformation. London, Routledge. • Bertschy, F., Künzli, C. and Lehmann, M. 2013. Teachers’ Competencies for the Implementation of Educational Offers in the Field of Education for Sustainable Development. Sustainability, Vol. 5, No. 12, pp. 5067–5080 • https://www.stat.gov.mk • http://ask.rks-gov.net • http://SEEJobsGateway.net • https://data.worldbank.org/indicator • https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database • https://data.oecd.org/   

Brain Drain Phenomenon in Western Balkan Countries with Special Emphasis in Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania

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Brain Drain Phenomenon in Western Balkan Countries with Special Emphasis in Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania

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