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Concept
Human capital flight
Summary
Human capital flight is the emigration or immigration of individuals who have received advanced training at home. The net benefits of human capital flight for the receiving country are sometimes referred to as a "brain gain" whereas the net costs for the sending country are sometimes referred to as a "brain drain". In occupations with a surplus of graduates, immigration of foreign-trained professionals can aggravate the underemployment of domestic graduates, whereas emigration from an area with a surplus of trained people leads to better opportunities for those remaining. But emigration may cause problems for the home country if the trained people are in short supply there.
Research shows that there are significant economic benefits of human capital flight for the migrants themselves and for the receiving country. The impact on the country of origin is less straightforward, with research suggesting the impact can be positive, negative or mixed. Research also suggests that emigration, remittances and return migration can have a positive impact on democratization and on the quality of political institutions in the country of origin.
There are several types of human capital flight:
Organizational: The flight of talented, creative and highly qualified employees from large corporations that occurs when employees perceive the direction and leadership of the company to be regressive, unstable or stagnant, and thus unable to satisfy their personal and professional ambitions.
Geographical: The flight of highly trained individuals and college graduates from their area of residence.
Industrial: The movement of traditionally skilled workers from one sector of an industry to another.
As with other human migration, the social environment is often considered to be a key reason for this population shift. In source countries, lack of opportunities, political instability or oppression, economic depression, health risks and more (push factors) contribute to human capital flight, whereas host countries usually offer rich opportunities, political stability and freedom, a developed economy and better living conditions (pull factors) that attract talent.
Official source
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