The Microeconomic Determinants of Emigration and Return Migration of the Best and Brightest: Evidence from the Pacific

A unique survey which tracks worldwide the best and brightest academic performers from three Pacific countries is used to assess the extent of emigration and return migration among the very highly skilled, and to analyze, at the microeconomic level, the determinants of these migration choices. Altho...

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Main Authors:	Gibson, John, McKenzie, David
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	EN
Published:	2012
Subjects:	International Migration F220 Human Capital Skills Occupational Choice Labor Productivity J240 Economic Development: Human Resources Human Development Income Distribution Migration O150
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5770

id	okr-10986-5770
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-57702021-04-23T14:02:23Z The Microeconomic Determinants of Emigration and Return Migration of the Best and Brightest: Evidence from the Pacific Gibson, John McKenzie, David International Migration F220 Human Capital Skills Occupational Choice Labor Productivity J240 Economic Development: Human Resources Human Development Income Distribution Migration O150 A unique survey which tracks worldwide the best and brightest academic performers from three Pacific countries is used to assess the extent of emigration and return migration among the very highly skilled, and to analyze, at the microeconomic level, the determinants of these migration choices. Although we estimate that the income gains from migration are very large, not everyone migrates and many return. Within this group of highly skilled individuals the emigration decision is found to be most strongly associated with preference variables such as risk aversion and patience, and choice of subjects in secondary school, and not strongly linked to either liquidity constraints or to the gain in income to be had from migrating. Likewise, the decision to return is strongly linked to family and lifestyle reasons, rather than to the income opportunities in different countries. Overall the data suggest a relatively limited role for income maximization in distinguishing migration propensities among the very highly skilled, and a need to pay more attention to other components of the utility maximization decision. 2012-03-30T07:34:28Z 2012-03-30T07:34:28Z 2011 Journal Article Journal of Development Economics 03043878 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5770 EN http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Journal Article East Asia and Pacific
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	EN
topic	International Migration F220 Human Capital Skills Occupational Choice Labor Productivity J240 Economic Development: Human Resources Human Development Income Distribution Migration O150
spellingShingle	International Migration F220 Human Capital Skills Occupational Choice Labor Productivity J240 Economic Development: Human Resources Human Development Income Distribution Migration O150 Gibson, John McKenzie, David The Microeconomic Determinants of Emigration and Return Migration of the Best and Brightest: Evidence from the Pacific
geographic_facet	East Asia and Pacific
relation	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
description	A unique survey which tracks worldwide the best and brightest academic performers from three Pacific countries is used to assess the extent of emigration and return migration among the very highly skilled, and to analyze, at the microeconomic level, the determinants of these migration choices. Although we estimate that the income gains from migration are very large, not everyone migrates and many return. Within this group of highly skilled individuals the emigration decision is found to be most strongly associated with preference variables such as risk aversion and patience, and choice of subjects in secondary school, and not strongly linked to either liquidity constraints or to the gain in income to be had from migrating. Likewise, the decision to return is strongly linked to family and lifestyle reasons, rather than to the income opportunities in different countries. Overall the data suggest a relatively limited role for income maximization in distinguishing migration propensities among the very highly skilled, and a need to pay more attention to other components of the utility maximization decision.
format	Journal Article
author	Gibson, John McKenzie, David
author_facet	Gibson, John McKenzie, David
author_sort	Gibson, John
title	The Microeconomic Determinants of Emigration and Return Migration of the Best and Brightest: Evidence from the Pacific
title_short	The Microeconomic Determinants of Emigration and Return Migration of the Best and Brightest: Evidence from the Pacific
title_full	The Microeconomic Determinants of Emigration and Return Migration of the Best and Brightest: Evidence from the Pacific
title_fullStr	The Microeconomic Determinants of Emigration and Return Migration of the Best and Brightest: Evidence from the Pacific
title_full_unstemmed	The Microeconomic Determinants of Emigration and Return Migration of the Best and Brightest: Evidence from the Pacific
title_sort	microeconomic determinants of emigration and return migration of the best and brightest: evidence from the pacific
publishDate	2012
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5770
_version_	1764396242285101056

The Microeconomic Determinants of Emigration and Return Migration of the Best and Brightest: Evidence from the Pacific

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