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971. Skilled Migration: Boon or Bane? The Role of Policy Intervention

Author:
Ronald Skeldon
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Often highly skilled migration from developing to Western countries is conceptualized as “brain drain” and as detrimental for development. However, recent research and policy development challenges mainstream assumptions of brain drain, insisting that skilled migration is a more complex phenomenon. In this paper, the evidence for the migration of the skilled either to prejudice or to promote development will be examined. The terms “brain drain” and “brain gain” immediately introduce into the debate value judgements, which are either negative, that migration is bad for countries of origin, or positive, that migration is good and can be used to promote development. The evidence for each is conflicting and the adoption of such judgemental terms obscures factual analyses. The paper argues that rather than focussing on the consequences of the migration, policy should focus more on the causes and particularly on training and education policies.
Topic:
Development, Markets, Migration, and Labor Issues

972. Skill Flow: A Fundamental Reconsideration of Skilled-Worker Mobility and Development

Author:
Michael Clemens
Publication Date:
08-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
Large numbers of doctors, engineers, and other skilled workers from developing countries choose to move to other countries. Do their choices threaten development? The answer appears so obvious that their movement is most commonly known by the pejorative term “brain drain.” This paper reconsiders the question, starting from the most mainstream, explicit definitions of “development.” Under these definitions, it is only possible to advance development by regulating skilled workers' choices if that regulation greatly expands the substantive freedoms of others to meet their basic needs and live the lives they wish. Much existing evidence and some new evidence suggests that regulating skilled-worker mobility itself does little to address the underlying causes of skilled migrants' choices, generally brings few benefits to others, and often brings diverse unintended harm. The paper concludes with examples of effective ways that developing countries can build a skill base for development without regulating human movement. The mental shift required to take these policies seriously would be aided by dropping the sententious term “brain drain” in favor of the neutral, accurate, and concise term “skill flow.”
Topic:
Development, Migration, Labor Issues, and Brain Drain

973. Migrants and the Global Financial Crisis

Author:
Uri Dadush and Lauren Falcao
Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
More than 200 million people reside in a country that is not their birthplace. This “diaspora nation” of migrants outranks all but four of the world's countries in population. These migrants make an immense economic contribution both to their host country and to their home country, primarily through transfers of money they earn back to their home country, which are known as “remittances.” About 82 percent of migrants originate in developing countries, and their remittances, which amounted to an estimated $305 billion in 2008, represent an essential source of foreign exchange for these countries, as well as a major instrument in the fight against poverty.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, Migration, Immigration, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Russia, America, and Dubai

974. What Next for the Democratic Republic of Congo?

Author:
Dorina Bekoe and Michelle Swearingen
Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Diaspora communities are a double-edged sword. They have promoted peace as often as they have spurred conflict. There are many opportunities to harness the Congolese diaspora to support peace and reconstruction in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). ?War and civil unrest have swelled the ranks of the DRC diaspora. These individuals can play a role in strategizing for sustainable solutions - particularly in the mining sector and the fight against corruption. Trans-Atlantic participants in the USIP diaspora dialogue called for tighter regulation, effective transparency, integration of the informal economy, greater investment flows and support for Congolese solutions to Congolese problems. Proposed solutions will be neither effective nor sustainable unless the war is ended and governance improves. This would involve effective regional support for peacekeeping, international efforts to deter spoilers and domestic initiatives to make governance more effective. The DRC diaspora are committed to be a source of advocacy, technical assistance, investment and accountability.
Topic:
Migration, Diaspora, and Immigration
Political Geography:
Africa

975. Three-Year Bologna-Compliant Degrees: Responses from U.S. Graduate Schools

Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute of International Education (IIE)
Abstract:
Ten years ago, in June 1999, a group of 29 European Ministers signed the Bologna Declaration with the goal of establishing the European Area of Higher Education by 2010 and promoting the European system of higher education world-wide. In April 2009, 46 European Higher Education Area Ministers will gather for the fifth biennial EHEA Ministerial Conference, to take stock of this first decade and jointly define goals for the coming years. At this juncture, it is important to look at the changes that have occurred through the Bologna Process in the context of transatlantic exchange, and how they affect the way U.S. higher education institutions are approaching graduate admissions, awarding transfer credit and credit for study abroad, and advancing institutional linkages.
Topic:
Education, Migration, and Immigration
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

976. Labor Migration in the Baltic States

Author:
Jill Leandro and Janis Mikits
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Department of Social Sciences at West Point, United States Military Academy
Abstract:
The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate labor migration in the Baltic States, determine its extent and its causes, and suggest possible policy recommendations designed to confront unsustainable emigration and brain drain.
Topic:
Education, Ethnic Conflict, Globalization, Migration, and Political Economy

977. The Static and Dynamic Benefits of Migration and Remittances in Nicaragua

Author:
Lykke E. Andersen and Bent Jesper Christensen
Publication Date:
08-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This paper utilizes a unique three-wave panel of household data from Nicaragua, which allows a thorough exploration of the relationships between migration, remittances and household consumption. The paper distinguishes between the effects of emigration and the impacts of remittances received. There is a self-selection bias in the decision to send a migrant, as well as in the decision to receive remittances. To adequately correct for these selection biases, we develop a bivariate selection correction procedure. Perhaps surprisingly, the results show that households do not benefit (in terms of higher consumption growth) from receiving remittances, but rather from having migrants abroad. This suggests that not only money are remitted from abroad, but also something more subtle, which could be business ideas, belief systems, aspirations, patterns of social interaction, and other intangibles, which have been dubbed social remittances.
Topic:
Development, Migration, Economy, and Remittances
Political Geography:
Central America and Nicaragua

978. The Central Margins: Congo’s Transborder Economy and State-Making in the Borderlands

Author:
Timothy Raeymaekers
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Timothy Raeymaekers has spent eight years doing fieldwork in the Congolese-Ugandan borderlands, a region that often calls up images of isolation and remoteness, where predatory and armed men ravage, and where death arrives suddenly and unexpectedly. To most people, the eastern Congolese borderlands represent a perversion of economic development, where criminal gangs and looting militias rule on the ruins of state collapse. But rather than collapsed statehood and economic development-in-reverse, Raeymaekers in this DIIS Working Paper argues that the interdependencies and accumulation strategies developed during Congo's protracted crisis have gradually made this borderland a crucial pillar in the equilibrium forces between formal and informal, state and non state actors and regulations in this territorial periphery - which has subsequently become a central margin in today's regional processes of state formation.
Topic:
Migration, Non State Actors, State Formation, Borders, Trade, and Smuggling
Political Geography:
Uganda, Africa, and Democratic Republic of Congo

979. A Permanent Solution to Internal Displacement? An Assessment of the Van Action Plan for IDPs

Author:
Deniz Yükseker and Dilek Kurban
Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
Prior to drafting the Action Plan, a series of workshops were organized in Van at the initiative of the UNDP office in Ankara which brought together the local CSOs and private sector for a discussion concerning the shape the Action Plan should take. This report’s assessment is that civil society’s contributions during the preparatory stage have to a significant extent not been incorporated in the final Action Plan. CSOs were not part of the drafting process. Furthermore, although discussions on political and socio-economic aspects of displacement took place at the workshops, many of the CSO’s views were not reflected in the Action Plan. The Action Plan is a “blueprint” document that outlines the general principles of service delivery to IDPs in Van. It emphasizes freedom of movement and choice regarding integration, return and resettlement, and, as such, is in agreement with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. It both addresses the right of return to original rural homes and the integration of urban IDPs. It also underlines the importance of civil society participation in implementation. However, the Action Plan suffers from a lack of focus and prioritization of outlined activities. No mention is made about the criteria for selection of service-delivery projects. There is no definition of IDPs and no criteria of eligibility for the beneficiaries of planned services. Particularly, the Action Plan does not address the fact that a significant proportion of IDPs in Van are from the neighboring Hakkâri and Şırnak provinces. Also, scant mention is made about funding sources. The Action Plan does not address certain issues that pertain to national-level politics and policies concerning the Kurdish question, issues which have a direct bearing on the choices open to IDPs. Issues such as cessation of the armed conflict, abolishment of the provisional village guard system and the clearing of landmines and unexploded ordnances (UXOs), all of which would positively influence the safety of returns to original rural homes, are ignored in the Plan. These lacunae in the Action Plan have been the focus of criticism from some of the CSOs that participated in the preparatory process. The ‘official’ and ‘technical’ language used in the Plan, and the absence of any mention of the Kurdish language and ethnicity have also drawn criticism from civil society. The implementation stage has been marked by the overwhelming predominance of projects prepared by public agencies in Van both in number and budgetary scale. Some of these are urban projects, such as the planned building of housing for IDPs and sewage systems in IDP neighborhoods. There are also projects pertaining to health, education and counseling. Rural-based projects pertain especially to the revitalization of agriculture and animal husbandry. As it stands, it seems that the public sector is out-competing the civil society with projects many of which actually fall under its official mandate and for which regular budget allocations should already exist. Projects submitted by CSOs mostly pertain to skills-training and educational and cultural centers for IDP women, children and youth. At the time of this writing, out of 84 projects submitted by either public bodies or CSOs, 44 had either been approved by relevant government ministries or agencies or were still being negotiated. Only a fraction of these were allocated the requisite budgets and were already underway. Out of a total of 23 CSO projects, only two – both prepared by business groups for on-the-job training for IDPs – were allocated budgets for implementation. The authority for the approval of projects and budget allocation rests with the government. However, the criteria for selection of projects and prioritization of budget allocation are not transparent. It is also unclear how the performance and effectiveness of these projects would be assessed. In particular, there are no assessment measures regarding whether implemented public and CSO projects actually benefit IDPs and other vulnerable groups in the province. These issues pertaining to transparency and coordination that emerged during the implementation of the Plan have contributed to the existing feelings of mistrust between CSOs and public agencies in Van,
Topic:
Civil Society, Migration, Internal Displacement, and Action Plan
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean

980. Out of Site: Building better responses to displacement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by helping host families

Author:
Katherine Haver
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Despite new peace agreements, continued conflict among and between armed militias and government forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the last year has seen thousands of new internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the east of the country, many of whom have poured into camps seeking shelter and safety. This is a new development in DRC. Unlike Darfur and Uganda, IDPs in DRC have usually stayed with host families, returning intermittently to their homes, rather than fleeing to refugee-like camps. Around 70 per cent of DRC's IDPs are still living with host families, but the unprecedented upsurge in the number of those heading towards camps raises difficult questions. Have humanitarian organisations done enough to help IDPs in host families, and the host families themselves? If they have not, have they in fact encouraged the drive to the camps? Most importantly, how can IDPs with host families (as well as those in camps) be adequately assisted?
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Humanitarian Aid, and Migration
Political Geography:
Uganda, Africa, Darfur, and Democratic Republic of the Congo