I think the interesting thing I came across when doing the research was that for both health workers in the Philippines and for IT workers in India, these countries were lower-middle income countries without educational infrastructure, but the market (so to speak) pulled the supply of education forward. Definitely private providers played a large role but also public providers too through technical colleges etc.
The common brain drain narrative just overlooks the supply effects rising to meet the increased demand. There is a lag of course but ultimately the stock of human capital is greatly increased.
The issue is not being without educational infrastructure per se but much more about being in a country where the supply of educational infrastructure isn't allowed (for whatever reason; war, dictatorship etc) to respond and grow. That's much more detrimental.
Very much appreciate the thought process undertaken here. In countries where educational infrastrucutre is limited, how feasible might you think it be for lower-middle income countries to scale up training and resources to meet this increase in demand for education created by emigration?
This article explains very well how “brain drain,” at least in the zero-sum sense of the word, doesn’t exist. I could not have explained it better.
This is just another aspect of economics and human progress that is “counterintuitive” to our base instincts. We are “wired” to see everything through a zero-sum lens. It takes, “system 2” thinking to go beyond and see what is really happening here: https://www.lianeon.org/p/progress-is-counterintuitive
I think the interesting thing I came across when doing the research was that for both health workers in the Philippines and for IT workers in India, these countries were lower-middle income countries without educational infrastructure, but the market (so to speak) pulled the supply of education forward. Definitely private providers played a large role but also public providers too through technical colleges etc.
The common brain drain narrative just overlooks the supply effects rising to meet the increased demand. There is a lag of course but ultimately the stock of human capital is greatly increased.
The issue is not being without educational infrastructure per se but much more about being in a country where the supply of educational infrastructure isn't allowed (for whatever reason; war, dictatorship etc) to respond and grow. That's much more detrimental.
Very much appreciate the thought process undertaken here. In countries where educational infrastrucutre is limited, how feasible might you think it be for lower-middle income countries to scale up training and resources to meet this increase in demand for education created by emigration?
This article explains very well how “brain drain,” at least in the zero-sum sense of the word, doesn’t exist. I could not have explained it better.
This is just another aspect of economics and human progress that is “counterintuitive” to our base instincts. We are “wired” to see everything through a zero-sum lens. It takes, “system 2” thinking to go beyond and see what is really happening here: https://www.lianeon.org/p/progress-is-counterintuitive