What’s the paper about?
Titled Brain Drain or Brain Gain? Effects of High-Skilled International Emigration on Origin Countries, the paper offers a compelling reassessment of the long-debated phenomenon of skilled migration from low-income to high-income countries. Drawing on causal evidence and empirical studies, the authors demonstrate that far from simply depleting a country’s talent, migration can increase the overall stock of human capital at home. Through remittances, return migration, knowledge spillovers, and education incentives, skilled emigration often creates new opportunities and boosts development at the origin. The paper also highlights conditions and policy environments that can tilt the balance toward brain gain.
