Causes and Global Statistics of Brain Drain

Contents

Topic Page No.
Introduction 1
Historical examples 1
Causes of Brain Drain 3
Global Statistics of brain drain 4
Brain Gain 5
Brain Circulation 5
Brain Waste 6
Reverse Brain Drain 6
Brain drain in India 8
Combating Brain drain 11
Summary 12
References 13

Introduction:
Brain drain is also known as “The human capital flight”. It can be simply defined as the mass emigration of technically skilled people from one country to another country. Brain-drain can have many reasons, for example-political instability of a nation, lack of opportunities, health risks, personal conflicts etc. Brain-drain can also be named as “human capital flight” because it resembles the case of capital flight, in which mass migration of financial capital is involved.
The term brain-drain was introduced by observing the emigration of the various technologists, doctors and scientists, from various developing countries (including Europe) to more developed nations like USA. Now this phenomenon of brain drain has a conversed effect for a country in which people are getting migrated and brain-drain of a nation becomes brain-gain for that particular country. Usually all developing countries including India are suffering from brain drain and developed countries like USA are having brain gain from this phenomenon.
The term brain drain was coined by the Royal Society to describe the emigration of "scientists and technologists" to North America from post-war Europe. Another source indicates that this term was first used in the United Kingdom to describe the influx of Indian scientist and engineers. The converse phenomenon is "brain gain", which occurs when there is a large-scale immigration of technically qualified persons. There are also relevant phrases called "brain circulation" and "brain waste".
Brain drain is common amongst developing nations, such as the former colonies of Africa, the island nations of the Caribbean, and particularly in centralized economies such as former East Germany and the Soviet Union, where marketable skills were not financially rewarded.

Historical Examples:
1. Neoplatonic academy philosophers moves
After Justinian closed Academy in AD 529, according to the historian Apathies, its remaining members looked for protection under the rule of Sassanid king Khosrau I, carrying with them precious scrolls of literature and philosophy, and to a lesser degree of science. After a peace treaty between the Persian and the Byzantine Empire in 532 guaranteed their personal security, some members of it found sanctuary in the pagan stronghold of Harran, near Edessa. One of the last leading figures of this group was Simplicius, a pupil of Damascus, the last head of the Athenian school. From there, the students of an Academy-in-exile could have survived into the 9th century, long enough to facilitate the Arabic revival of the Neo-Platonist commentary tradition in Baghdad.

2. Spanish expulsion of Jews and Moors
After the end of the Catholic reconquest of Spain, the Catholic Monarchs pursued a religiously uniform kingdom. Jews were expelled from the country in 1492. As they dominated financial services in the country, their expulsion was instrumental in causing future economic problems, such as the need of foreign bankers such as the Fugger family and from Genoa. On 7 January 1492 the King ordered the expulsion of all the Jews from Spain-from the kingdoms of Castile, Catalonia, Aragon, Galicia, Majorca, Minorca, the Basque provinces, the islands of Sardinia and Sicily, and the kingdom of Valencia. Before that the Queen had expelled them from the kingdom of Andalusia
The war against Turks and North African Moors affected internal policy in the uprising of the Alpujarras (1568–1571) and motivated the Expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609. Despite being demographically a minority they were a key part of the farming sector and trained artisans. Their departure contributed to economic decline in some regions of Spain. This way, the conservative aristocracy increased its power over economically developed provinces.

3. Huguenot exodus from France (17th century)
In 1685, Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes and declared Protestantism to be illegal in the Edict of Fontainebleau. After this, Huguenots (with estimates ranging from 200,000 to 1,000,000) fled to surrounding Protestant countries: England, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark and Prussia — whose Calvinist Great Elector Frederick William welcomed them to help rebuild his war-ravaged and under populated country. Many went to the Dutch colony at the Cape (South Africa) where they were instrumental in establishing a wine industry. At least 10,000 went to Ireland where they assimilated into the Protestant minority during the plantations.
Many Huguenots and their decedents prospered. Henry Fourdrinier, the descendant of Huguenot settlers in England, founded the modern paper industry.
The exodus of Huguenots from France created a brain drain as Huguenots accounted for a disproportionate number of entrepreneurial, artisan, and technical occupations in the country. The loss of this technical expertise was a blow from which the kingdom did not fully recover for many years.

4. Anti-Semitism in pre-WWII Europe (1933–1943)
Anti-Semitic feelings and laws in Europe through the 1930s and 1940s, culminating in the Holocaust, caused the emigration of many scientists to the United States. Notable examples are:
Albert Einstein (emigrated permanently to the United States in 1933)
Enrico Fermi (1938; though not Jewish himself, his wife Laura was)
Niels Bohr (1943; his mother was Jewish)
Theodore von Karman
John von Neumann

5. Eastern Bloc brain drain crisis (1922-1961)
By 1922, the Soviet Union had issued restrictions making emigration of its citizens to other countries almost impossible. After Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe at the end of
World War II, the majority of those living in the newly acquired areas of the Eastern Bloc aspired to independence and wanted the Soviets to leave. By the early 1950s, the approach of the Soviet Union to restricting emigration was emulated by most of the rest of the Eastern Bloc, including East Germany.
Even with the closing of the Inner German border officially in 1952,the border between the sectors of East Berlin and West Berlin remained considerably more accessible than the rest of the border because it was administered by all four occupying powers. The Berlin sector border was essentially a "loophole" through which East Bloc citizens could still emigrate. The 3.5 million East Germans, called Republikflüchtlinge, which had left by 1961, totalled approximately 20% of the entire East German population. The emigrants tended to be young and well educated, leading to the brain drain feared by officials in East Germany.
Causes of Brain Drain:
Every Year it is observed that hundreds of our talented brains make frantic effort to leave India. Thousands of Indian scientists, doctors, engineers and other qualified persons have migrated for and are staying in other countries. The reasons concerned for the brain drain are:
Unemployment and under employment.
There are many scientists, doctors and engineers in our country who are unemployed. They have devoted several years of their lives to their education and have spent huge amounts of money on it- When after the completion of their courses of study and training, they find that there are no employment opportunities for them; they are overpowered by acute frustration. It is this state of affairs that forces them to go abroad.

Lack of research facilities.
The second major reason of this one way traffic of talent is lack of research facilities in India. Many of our best students go abroad for higher degrees or for research work, while studying for their degrees or doing research work abroad, they take up some of part-time job in the field of their study or research for practical experience and also to earn some money that they need there. After completing their studies they do not want to return as unemployment problem in their home country frightens them to return back.
There are of some of such persons who when they returned to India Obtaining higher degrees or completing their research work, Unable to get jobs befitting their qualifications and skill. They naturally frustrated when they found that they could neither to live a decent life with the salary that the job fetched them
Attractive salary and packages.
Peoples and students are getting attracted towards the high salary and attractive perks which are provided by the foreign country employers and they are not getting in their home country. The better conditions of job and higher standard of living countries lure them to decide to stay on there.

Political instability in home countries
Due to political instability in home countries they lose confidence to their governments and future prospects for a better life. These are individuals who may have difficulties because of their ethnic, cultural, religion belongings or being a member of opposition political groupings in their home countries, - Migration taking place in response to wars, and political and social turmoil.

Global Statistics of Brain Drain:
The brain drain increases the scarcity of highly needed skilled labour in developing countries and consequently reduces long-run economic growth and income. In addition, if highly educated workers continue to emigrate to richer countries, public funds spent on higher education in order to promote growth may be to a large extent inefficiently applied and better spent on sound and widespread basic education to foster domestic economic development. In order to devise policies that create incentives for the highly skilled workers to stay, a clear picture of their reasons for leaving has to be developed first. Part of the explanation may be wage differentials, differences in the quality of life, and educational opportunities for children and job security. Implementing the right policies to counter the brain drain will be of crucial importance for the economic future of the affected countries, and one of their biggest challenges.

Brain Gain:
An opposite situation, in which many trained and talented individuals seek entrance into a country, is called a brain gain; this may create a brain drain in the nations that the individuals are leaving. A Canadian symposium in the late 1990s gave circulation to the new term, in response to Canada luring more skilled professionals to the country than it lost.[citation needed]
In 2000, the US Congress announced that it was raising the annual cap on the number of temporary work visas granted to highly skilled professionals under its H1B visa program, from 115,000 to 195,000 per year, effective through 2003. That suggests a rough figure for the influx of talent into the United States at that time. A significant portion of this program was initiated by lobbyists from the computer industry, including Bill Gates. In the same year the government of the United Kingdom, in cooperation with the Wolfson Foundation, a research charity, launched a £20 million, five-year research award scheme aimed at drawing the return of the UK's leading expatriate scientists and sparking the migration of top young researchers to the United Kingdom.

Brain Circulation:
In general most developing countries suffer brain drain because emigrant intellectuals refuse to return. Some migrants do return to their home countries or become transnational with homes in different countries.
It is known as the extended definition of brain gain with an emphasis on human capital circulation across nations in the global market, benefiting both the sending and receiving nations; in addition it is considered a two-way flow of skill, capital, and technology, unlike brain drain and reverse brain drain.
Brain Waste:
Sometimes migrants to other countries or urban areas are not able to obtain employment commensurate with their educational qualifications. This is called brain waste. An example would be a Nigerian doctor who immigrates to Europe but works in the service industry.

Reverse Brain Drain:
The term ‘reverse brain drain’ is closely tied with brain drain and brain gain because reverse brain drain is a migratory phenomenon that results due to the brain drain of the intellectual elites from developing countries and is similar to benefit of an inflow of high quality human resources which is brain gain. In addition, reverse brain drain is sometimes related to the term ‘brain circulation’, which is when migrants return to their own country on a regular or occasional basis, sharing the benefits of the skills and resources they have acquired while living and working abroad.
It refers to the migration issue, whereby human capital moves in reverse from a more developed country to a less developed country that is developing rapidly, which is commonly defined as ‘brain drain’. It is also termed as a logical outcome of a calculated strategy, where migrants accumulate savings, also known as remittances, and develop skills overseas that can be used in their home country.
Reverse brain drain can occur when scientists, engineers, or other intellectual elites migrate to a less developed country to learn in its universities, perform research, or gain working experience in areas where education and employment opportunities are limited in their home country.
Occurrence of Reverse Brain Drain:
The occurrence of reverse brain drain mainly depends upon:
The state of the country’s development, and also strategies and planning over a long period of time to reverse the migration.
Countries that are attractive to returning intelligentsia will naturally develop migration policies to attract foreign academics and professionals.
This would also require these countries to develop an environment which will provide rewarding opportunities for those who have attained the knowledge and skills from overseas.
The recent economic growth that is occurring back in their home countries - and the difficulty of attaining long-term work visas - causes many of the immigrants to return home.

Policies to enhance Reverse Brain Drain:
The countries where reverse brain drain occurs are developing countries, or are countries who have suffered a significant impact from the ‘brain drain’ from developed countries.
Governments have attempted to reverse the flow of brain drain through implementing new contracts, scholarships, government policies, and several other methods.
Three methods of implementing and enhancing reverse brain drain are through governments retaining their students, encouraging students to pursue tertiary studies abroad and promoting them to return.
Engaging with the Diasporas which will encourage expatriates to remit savings, act as bridges for foreign investment and trade, and facilitate the transfer of skills and knowledge.
There are several countries that are prime examples of these three methods are as:
China, India, South Korea, Pakistan, Taiwan, Africa etc.

Reasons for Returning to Home Country (1 = not important, 5 = extremely important)

Brain Drain in India:
In India, the pattern of Brain-drain has caught the public eye very recently. Indian education system is counted amongst the best in the world. The Indian system of education follows a smooth hierarchy from basics to perfection. After completing their education in India, people often leave for foreign countries in search of better working environment and pay package on account of unemployment. Facts and figures are put forward to emphasize the terrible loss being caused to the country as a result of this phenomenon. The Scientific and Technical Personnel Division of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (GSIR) issued in 1962 the 'Indians Abroad Roster' which gives an approximate figure of 29,000 skilled scientists, engineers, doctors, teachers and technical personnel migrating to foreign countries. However, this statistics is not factually accurate, and so, this does not reflect the magnitude of the problem, the Brain-drain coming to about 3 per cent of the skilled personnel available in India. But what is really alarming is the information that the average age of migrants is between 20 and 40 years. This means that India is losing the cream of the intelligentsia at the most productive period of their life.
Every year, thousands of highly talented doctors, engineers, scientists and other intellectuals leave India and migrate to foreign countries. They generally go to U.S.A, UK, Canada, West Germany, and etc. for monetary gains and facilities for higher research. US is the biggest gainer from the loss of India due to brain drain.
Most of the students who go abroad for higher studies do not return to India. After seeing, the affluent life of foreign countries they lose all interest in their own country. Many Indians are teaching at various US Universities and other Institutions of higher learning.
The UNDP estimates that India loses $2 billion a year because of the emigration of computer experts to the U.S.Indian students going abroad for their higher studies costs India a foreign exchange outflow of $10 billion annually.
Factors Contributing to Decision to Migrate to U.S. (1 = not important, 5 = extremely important)

Brain drain has actually become a problem and a subject of worry for the under developed and developing countries like INDIA. 70% Students in these countries think that there are much better opportunities outside India to work but they forget that this act actually is effecting the per capita income and hence the National income. Students study here, take all the knowledge from their native countries and when it comes to do something in their nation and add to the nations income they go abroad saying that India does not have better career opportunity.

Graph showing Indian People in USA as Compared to other foreigners

Combating Brain Drain:
The problem of Brain-drain should be tackled at national and international level on a broad-based and rational pattern, for it is a global issue.
1. Good governance at the national and international level, especially maintenance of reasonable security for peoples' lives and property is essential for economic progress, thus withholding political and economic emigrants, who blame their government’s failure for political unrest and stagnant economic growth is possible. Transparency in leadership is essential and should be maintained.
2. Internationally, the country gaining by Brain-drain must compensate the losing country by sending their scientists in return.
3. Offering higher wages for `insiders` according to their qualifications is essential, instead of over estimating and hiring expatriates, which are more costly.
4. Education plays a powerful role especially in the growing problems of international migration. Therefore, offering these individuals the necessarily education qualifications in their home countries, and expanding a better educational infrastructure may definitely prevent emigrants who are seeking a higher education abroad.
5. Seeking alternative measures for return of warranty from the beneficiaries, such as the withholding of academic degrees until the graduates return and are willing to serve the people, may be another considerable alternative.
6. The last alternative measure could be, taxing emigrants who are indigenously trained in home countries. This is indeed a sensitive issue and may sound absurd, and may potentially infringe on the basic human right and freedom to choose the nature and location of individuals where to live and where to work. Thus, it must be agreed upon the international community and international laws.
7. Since richer African States are also the stakeholders of this so called brain drain, a deal must be made between rich and poor states of the continent that prohibits the later from taking intellectuals of the poorer states.
8. Increase in Job advancement opportunities and research opportunities in order to reduce the initial loss of brain drain as well as encourage highly-skilled workers both inside and outside the country to work in that country.
The process of combating brain drain is time taking to establish all sorts of opportunities, but it is possible and become increasingly necessary. These tactics, however, do not address the issue of reducing brain drain from countries with issues such as: conflicts, political instability or health risks, meaning that brain drain is likely to be continuing as long as these problems exist in those countries.

Summary:
For the balance of power and for the staggered development of the world, it is very important to stop the phenomena of brain-drain. This will help a particular country to use all local skilled citizens for development and proliferation. But to hold these skilled workers at their native places, it is also important to provide them enough work opportunities and living facilities. For this purpose, developed nations should help developing countries with necessary money and resources. So that each and every human of this planet can have good standard of living and each and every nation can introduce itself as a developed nation.

References

1. Brain Drain - An Overview of Brain Drain in the Developing World http://geography.about.com/od/urbaneconomicgeography/a/braindrain.htm

2. Brain drain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_drain 3. Causes and Consequences of Brain Drain http://chora.virtualave.net/brain-drain7.htm

4. Brain Drain http://www.preservearticles.com/201103254685/essay-on-brain-drain.html 5. The American Brain Drain and Asia :: JapanFocus http://japanfocus.org/-Alex-Salkever/3112 6. Reverse brain drain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_brain_drain