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Migration, human capital accumulation and economic development

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  • Di Maria, Corrado
  • Stryszowski, Piotr

Abstract

We study how the possibility of migration changes the composition of human capital in sending countries, and how this affects development. In our model, growth is driven by productivity growth, which occurs via imitation or innovation. Both activities use the same types of skilled labour as input, albeit with different intensities. Heterogenous agents accumulate skills in response to economic incentives. Migration distorts these incentives, and the accumulation of human capital. This slows down, or even hinders, economic development. The effect is stronger, the farther away the country is from the technological frontier.

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  • Di Maria, Corrado & Stryszowski, Piotr, 2009. "Migration, human capital accumulation and economic development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 306-313, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:90:y:2009:i:2:p:306-313
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    2. Brunilda Zenelaga & Kseanela Sotirofski, 2011. "The `Brain Gain Hypotheses` of Transition Countries Elites and Socioeconomic Development in Their Home Country (Albanian Emigrants in Italy Sample)," Working Papers 46, AlmaLaurea Inter-University Consortium.
    3. Naudé, Wim & Siegel, Melissa & Marchand, Katrin, 2015. "Migration, Entrepreneurship and Development: A Critical Review," IZA Discussion Papers 9284, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Pierre‐Richard Agénor & Barış Alpaslan, 2018. "Infrastructure And Industrial Development With Endogenous Skill Acquisition," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(4), pages 313-334, October.
    5. Baran Siyahhan & Hamed Ghoddusi, 2022. "Optimal investment in human capital under migration uncertainty," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 422-449, May.
    6. Ha, Wei & Yi, Junjian & Zhang, Junsen, 2016. "Brain drain, brain gain, and economic growth in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 322-337.
    7. Almeida, Carlo Alano Soares de & Fernandes, Kaio César & Oliveira, Denison Murilo de & Rocha, Leonardo Andrade & Silva, Napiê Galvê Araújo, 2020. "Growth and heterogeneity of human capital: effects of the expansion of higher education on the income increase in Brazilian municipalities," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), August.
    8. Manca, Fabio, 2011. "Education, Catch-up and Growth in Spain," INVESTIGACIONES REGIONALES - Journal of REGIONAL RESEARCH, Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional, issue 20, pages 5-28.
    9. Rajesh Sharma & Pradeep Kautish & D. Suresh Kumar, 2018. "Impact of Selected Macroeconomic Determinants on Economic Growth in India: An Empirical Study," Vision, , vol. 22(4), pages 405-415, December.
    10. Di Maria, Corrado & Lazarova, Emiliya A., 2012. "Migration, Human Capital Formation, and Growth: An Empirical Investigation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 938-955.
    11. Frédéric Docquier & Hillel Rapoport, 2012. "Globalization, Brain Drain, and Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(3), pages 681-730, September.
    12. Djajić, Slobodan, 2013. "Barriers to immigration and the dynamics of emigration," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 41-52.
    13. Sandra Liliana Botón Gómez & Patricia González Román, 2010. "Una revisión a los estudios sobre Migración Internacional en Colombia," Revista Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, June.
    14. Ventura, Luigi, 2021. "A Note on Migration, Diversity and Economic Growth: a Replication Study of Bove and Elia (World Development, 2017)," MPRA Paper 110512, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Iryna Kalenyuk & Liudmyla Tsymbal, 2021. "Assessment of the intellectual component in economic development," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(6), pages 4793-4816, June.
    16. Wim Naudé & Melissa Siegel & Katrin Marchand, 2017. "Migration, entrepreneurship and development: critical questions," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-16, December.
    17. Basu, Sujata & Keswani Mehra, Meeta, 2014. "Endogenous human capital formation, distance to frontier and growth," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 117-132.
    18. Masashi Tanaka, 2018. "Changing demand for general skills, technological uncertainty, and economic growth," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 18-02, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    19. Jaime Aboites & Claudia Díaz, 2018. "Inventors’ mobility in Mexico in the context of globalization," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 115(3), pages 1443-1461, June.
    20. Youngjin Woo & Euijune Kim & Jaewon Lim, 2017. "The Impact of Education and R&D Investment on Regional Economic Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-18, April.
    21. Navarro, Salvador & Zhou, Jin, 2024. "Human capital and migration: A cautionary tale," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 243(1).
    22. Basu, Suajta, 2014. "Intergenerational mobility, composition of human capital and distance to frontier," MPRA Paper 59110, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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