Brain Drain and LDCs' Growth: Winners and Losers

Michel Beine, CADRE, University of Lille II; and DULBEA, Free University of Brussels

Fréderic Docquier, CADRE, University of Lille II; and SES, Regional Government of Wallonia, Belgium

Hillel Rapoport, CADRE, University of Lille II; CREDPR, Stanford University; and Bar-Ilan University

Abstract. We present an empirical evaluation of the growth effects of the brain drain for the source countries of migrants. Using recent US data on migration rates by education levels (Carrington and Detragiache, 1998), we find empirical support for the “beneficial brain drain hypothesis” in a sample of 50 developing countries. At the country-level, we distinguish between winners and losers among source countries. While the number of winners is smaller, these include nearly 80% of the total population of developing countries.

JEL Classification: F22, J24, O15

Keywords: Brain Drain, Migration, Growth, Human capital formation, Immigration policy.