Human Resource Flows from and between Developing Countries: Implications for Social and Public Policies

Today, a significant proportion of the world’s migrant population flows occur between developing countries. This is confirmed by recent estimates of both the United Nations (UN) and the World Bank, though data limitations may underestimate migrant movements, especially South—South. When qualifications are taken into account, the flows of skilled human resources appear to be significantly higher towards rich countries than towards others. This is the result of a traditional concentration of educational, technological and scientific capacities in the North, and of an unequal worldwide distribution of labour, income and living conditions. However, there is some evidence that the pattern of flows is becoming more complex. New countries from the South send and/or receive highly skilled people. Despite information limitations and the need for a historical perspective to assess specific trends, these changes tend to indicate an increasing multilateralization of human resource flows in the global society. At the same time, the feminization of these flows — now well assessed for overall migrations — exhibits particularly strong features within the highly skilled subpopulation. The rate of tertiary educated female emigrants from the South is higher than for males. And the impact on social/human development indicators is noticeable.