The propensity to return: Theory and evidence for the Italian brain drain
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that highly skilled migrants decide not to return to their native country and that return migration is the positive counterpart of the brain drain, which is a negative effect of brain drain.
About: This article is published in Economics Letters.The article was published on 2012-06-01. It has received 27 citations till now.
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TL;DR: The authors studied whether return migrants facilitate knowledge production by local employees working for them at geographically distant research and development (R&D) locations, and found that return migrants act as a "bridge" to transfer knowledge from the MNE headquarters to the local employees.
Abstract: I study whether return migrants facilitate knowledge production by local employees working for them at geographically distant research and development (R&D) locations. Using unique personnel and patenting data for 1315 employees at the Indian R&D center of a Fortune 500 technology firm, I exploit a natural experiment where the assignment of managers for newly hired college graduates is mandated by rigid HR rules and is uncorrelated to observable characteristics of the graduates. Given this assignment protocol, I find that local employees with returnee managers file disproportionately more US patents. I also find some evidence that return migrants act as a ‘bridge’ to transfer knowledge from the MNE headquarters to the local employees working for them.
74 citations
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TL;DR: The authors analyzed a new database culled from the 1911 Irish population census to address these issues for returnees to Ireland from North America more than a century ago and found that those who returned had the edge over the population as a whole in terms of human capital, if not also over those who remained abroad.
Abstract: Are return migrants 'losers' who fail to adapt to the challenges of the host economy, and thereby exacerbate the brain drain linked to emigration? Or are they 'winners' whose return enhances the human and physical capital of the home country? These questions are the subject of a burgeoning literature. This paper analyze a new database culled from the 1911 Irish population census to address these issues for returnees to Ireland from North America more than a century ago. The evidence suggests that those who returned had the edge over the population as a whole in terms of human capital, if not also over those who remained abroad.
21 citations
Cites background from "The propensity to return: Theory an..."
...The outcome represents a form of ‘brain gain’ from return migration (compare Abramitzky et al. 2019; Biondo et al. 2012)....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the nexus between life satisfaction, migration aspirations and return and development within the context of a previously relatively developed but in the meantime deprived post-Soviet country, Ukraine.
Abstract: This article explores the nexus between life (dis)satisfaction, migration aspirations and return and development within the context of a previously relatively developed but in the meantime deprived post-Soviet country, Ukraine. It is based on a mixed method quantitative and qualitative study conducted from 2010 to 2013. Three key findings have been emerging. First, life dissatisfaction significantly contributes to the emergence of migration aspirations and thus is an important driver of migration. This points to a correlation between the state of development of a country, according life (dis)satisfaction of its populations’ and their propensity to migrate. Second, the study suggests that the better educated have stronger intentions to migrate abroad; this trend rather undermines the country’s capability to develop further. And third, our findings suggest that (a) expected dissatisfaction with life in Ukraine upon return undermines migrants’ aspirations to return or to stay and instead inspires remigration...
20 citations
TL;DR: The authors described the history of emigration from Italy and Ireland during the age of mass migration from both sending and receiving country perspectives, and argued that positive or negative selection among emigrants may affect the level of human capital in sending countries.
Abstract: Emigrants from Italy and Ireland contributed disproportionately to the age of mass migration. That their departure improved the living standards of those they left behind is hardly in doubt. Nevertheless, a voluminous literature on the selectivity of migrant flows—from both sending and receiving country perspectives—has given rise to claims that migration generates both “brain drains” and “brain gains.” On the one hand, positive or negative selection among emigrants may affect the level of human capital in sending countries. On the other hand, the prospect of emigration and return migration may both spur investment in schooling in source countries. This essay describes the history of emigration from Italy and Ireland during the age of mass migration from these perspectives.
19 citations
Cites background from "The propensity to return: Theory an..."
...Some of the economic literature treats migration as a permanent phenomenon, particularly if that of highly-skilled individuals (Becker et al. 2004; Monteleone and Torrisi 2010; Biondo et al. 2012)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a simulation framework based on two fundamental individual features, i.e. risk aversion and initial expectation, which characterize the dynamics of different agents according to the evolution of their social contacts.
Abstract: The Brain Drain phenomenon is particularly heterogeneous and is characterized by peculiar specifications. It influences the economic fundamentals of both the country of origin and the host one in terms of human capital accumulation. Here, the brain drain is considered from a microeconomic perspective: more precisely we focus on the individual rational decision to return, referring it to the social capital owned by the worker. The presented model compares utility levels to justify agent migration conduct and to simulate several scenarios within a computational environment. In particular, we developed a simulation framework based on two fundamental individual features, i.e. risk aversion and initial expectation, which characterize the dynamics of different agents according to the evolution of their social contacts. Our main result is that, according to the value of risk aversion and initial expectation, the probability of return migration depends on their ratio, with a certain degree of approximation: when risk aversion is much bigger than the initial expectation, the probability of returns is maximal, while, in the opposite case, the probability for the agents to remain abroad is very high. In between, when the two values are comparable, it does exist a broad intertwined region where it is very difficult to draw any analytical forecast.
18 citations
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Journal Article•
937 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze the return migration of foreign-born persons in the United States and argue that return migration may have been planned as part of an optimal life-cycle residential location sequence.
Abstract: This paper analyzes the return migration of foreign-born persons in the United States. We argue that return migration may have been planned as part of an optimal life-cycle residential location sequence. Return migration also occurs because immigrants based their initial migration decision on erroneous information about opportunities in the United States. The study uses the 1980 Census and administrative data from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Immigrants tend to return to wealthy countries which are not too far from the United States. Moreover return migration accentuates the type of selection characterizing the immigrant population left in the United States. (EXCERPT)
644 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: Human capital depletion and formation in an economy open to out-migration, as opposed to an economy which is closed, under the assumption of asymmetric information can give rise to a brain gain in conjunction with a brain drain.
Abstract: We study human capital depletion and formation in an economy open to out-migration, as opposed to an economy which is closed. Under the natural assumption of asymmetric information, the enlarged opportunities and the associated different structure of incentives can give rise to a brain gain in conjunction with a brain drain. Migration by high-skill members of its workforce notwithstanding, the home country can end up with a higher average level of human capital per worker.
640 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors study human capital depletion and formation in an economy open to out-migration, as opposed to an economy which is closed, under the assumption of asymmetric information, the enlarged opportunities and the associated different structure of incentives can give rise to a brain gain in conjunction with a brain drain.
563 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a simple model that rationalizes the decision of a migrant to return to his/her home country, despite a persistently higher wage in the host country, was developed.
Abstract: In this article, we discuss forms of migration that are non-permanent. We focus on temporary migrations where the decision to return is taken by the immigrant. These migrations are likely to be frequent, and we provide some evidence for the UK. We then develop a simple model that rationalizes the decision of a migrant to return to his/her home country, despite a persistently higher wage in the host country. We consider three motives for a temporary migration: (i) differences in relative prices between host and home country, (ii) complementarities between consumption and the location where consumption takes place, and (iii) the possibility of accumulating human capital abroad, which enhances the immigrant's earnings potential back home. For the last return motive, we discuss extensions that allow for immigrant heterogeneity, and develop implications for selective in- and out-migration.
515 citations