Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/44193 
Year of Publication: 
2010
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 5048
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Does emigration really drain human capital accumulation in origin countries? This paper explores a unique household survey purposely designed and conducted to answer this research question. We analyze the case of Cape Verde, a country with allegedly the highest 'brain drain' in Africa, despite a marked record of income and human capital growth in recent decades. Our micro data enables us to propose the first explicit test of 'brain gain' arguments according to which the prospects of own future migration can positively impact educational attainment. According to our results, a 10pp increase in the probability of own future migration may improve the average probability of completing intermediate secondary schooling by 8pp for individuals who do not migrate before age 16. Strikingly, this same 10pp increase may raise the probability of completing intermediate secondary schooling by 11pp for an individual whose parents were both non migrants when the educational decision was made. Our findings are robust to the choice of instruments and econometric model. Overall, we find that there may be substantial human capital gains from lowering migration barriers.
Subjects: 
Brain drain
brain gain
international migration
human capital
effects of emigration in origin countries
household survey
Cape Verde
sub-Saharan Africa
JEL: 
F22
J24
O12
O15
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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