Does international mobility of high-skilled workers aggravate between-country inequality?

• 成果类型: Article; Proceedings Paper
• 署名作者: Grossmann, Volker; Stadelmann, David
• 署名单位: University of Fribourg; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut; IZA Institute Labor Economics
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2010.04.007
• 发表日期: 2011
• 页码: 88-94
• 关键词: Brain drain; Between-country wage differences; public investment; total factor productivity

摘要

This paper analyzes the interaction of international migration of high-skilled labor and relative wage income between source and destination economies of expatriates. We develop an overlapping-generations model with increasing returns which suggests that international integration of the market for skilled labor aggravates between-country inequality by harming those which are source economies to begin with while benefiting host economies. The result is robust to allowing governments to optimally adjust productivity-enhancing investments which could potentially attenuate brain drain. Optimal public investment tends to decrease in response to higher emigration. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.