Migration And Brain Drain - Part Ii
By Sam Vaknin, Fri Dec 9th

Politicians in some countries decry this trend and deride thoseemigrating. In a famous interview on state TV, the late primeminister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, described them as "a falloutof the jaded". But in many impoverished countries, localkleptocracies welcome the brain drain as it also drains thecountry of potential political adversaries.

Emigration also tends to decrease competitiveness. It increasesalaries at home by reducing supply in the labour market (andreduces salaries at the receiving end, especially for unskilledworkers). Illegal migration has an even stronger downward effecton wages in the recipient country - illegal aliens tend to earnless than their legal compatriots. The countries of origin,whose intellectual elites are depleted by the brain drain, areoften forced to resort to hiring (expensive) foreigners. Africancountries spend more than $4 billion annually on foreignexperts, managers, scientists, programmers, and teachers.

Still, remittances by immigrants to their relatives back homeconstitute up to 10% of the GDP of certain countries - and up to40% of national foreign exchange revenues. The World Bankestimates that Latin American and Caribbean nationals received$15 billion in remittances in 2000 - ten times the 1980 figure.This may well be a gross underestimate. Mexicans alone remitted$6.7 billion in the first 9 months of 2001 (though job lossesand reduced hours may have since adversely affectedremittances). The IADB thinks that remittances will total $300billion in the next decade (Latin American immigrants send homec. 15% of their wages).

Official remittances (many go through unmonitored money transferchannels, such as the Asian Hawala network) are larger than allforeign aid combined. "The Economist" calculates that workers'remittances in Latin America and the Caribbean are three timesas large as aggregate foreign aid and larger than exportproceeds. Yet, this pecuniary flood is mostly used to financethe consumption of basics: staple foods, shelter, maintenance,clothing. It is non-productive capital.

Only a tiny part of the money ends up as investment. Countries -from Mexico to Israel, and from Macedonia to Guatemala - aretrying to tap into the considerable wealth of their diasporas byissuing remittance-bonds, by offering tax holidays,one-stop-shop facilities, business incubators, and direct accessto decision makers - as well as matching investment funds.

Migrant associations are sprouting all over the Western world,often at the behest of municipal authorities back home. TheUNDP, the International Organization of Migration (IOM), as wellas many governments (e.g., Israel, China, Venezuela, Uruguay,Ethiopia), encourage expatriates to share their skills withtheir counterparts in their country of origin. The thrivinghi-tech industries in Israel, India, Ireland, Taiwan, and SouthKorea were founded by returning migrants who brought with themnot only capital to invest and contacts - but alsoentrepreneurial skills and cutting edge technologies.

Thailand established in 1997, within the National Science andTechnology Development

Agency, a 2.2 billion baht project called"Reverse the Brain Drain". Its aim is to "use the 'brain' and'connections' of Thai professionals living overseas to help inthe Development of Thailand, particularly in science andtechnology."

The OECD ("International Mobility of the Highly Skilled")believes that:

"More and more highly skilled workers are moving abroad forjobs, encouraging innovation to circulate and helping to boosteconomic growth around the globe."

But it admits that a "greater co-operation between sending andreceiving countries is needed to ensure a fair distribution ofbenefits".

The OECD noted, in its "Annual Trends in InternationalMigration, 2001" that (to quote its press release):

"Migration involving qualified and highly qualified workers rosesharply between 1999 and 2000, helped by better employmentprospects and the easing of entry conditions. Instead ofgranting initial temporary work permits only for one year, as inthe past, some OECD countries, particularly in Europe, have beenissuing them for up to five years and generally making themrenewable. Countries such as Australia and Canada, wheremigration policies were mainly aimed at permanent settlers, arealso now favoring temporary work permits valid for between threeand six years ... In addition to a general increase in economicprosperity, one of the main factors behind the recent increasein worker migration has been the development of informationtechnology, a sector where in 2000 there was a shortage ofaround 850,000 technicians in the US and nearly 2 million inEurope..."

But the OECD underplays the importance of brain drain:

"Fears of a "brain drain" from developing to technologicallyadvanced countries may be exaggerated, given that manyprofessionals do eventually return to their country of origin.To avoid the loss of highly qualified workers, however,developing countries need to build their own innovation andresearch facilities ... China, for example, has recentlylaunched a program aimed at developing 100 selected universitiesinto world-class research centers. Another way to ensure return... could be to encourage students to study abroad while makingstudy grants conditional on the student's return home."

The key to a pacific and prosperous future lies in amultilateral agreement between brain-exporting, brain-importing,and transit countries. Such an agreement should facilitate thesharing of the benefits accruing from migration and "brainexchange" among host countries, countries of origin, and transitcountries. In the absence of such a legal instrument, resentmentamong poorer nations is likely to grow even as the mushroomingneeds of richer nations lead them to snatch more and more brainsfrom their already woefully depleted sources.

About the author:Sam Vaknin ( http://samvak.tripod.com ) is the author ofMalignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain -How the West Lost the East. He served as a columnist for CentralEurope Review, PopMatters, and eBookWeb , and Bellaonline, andas a United Press International (UPI) Senior BusinessCorrespondent. He is the the editor of mental health and CentralEast Europe categories in The Open Directory and Suite101.