Is the medical brain drain beneficial? Evidence from overseas doctors in the UK

Kangasniemi, Mari, Winters, L. Alan and Commander, Simon (2004) Is the medical brain drain beneficial? Evidence from overseas doctors in the UK. CEPDP (618). London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance, London, UK. ISBN 0753017202

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Abstract

The ¿beneficial brain drain¿ hypothesis suggests that skilled migration can be good for a sending country because the incentives it creates for training increase that country¿s supply of skilled labour. To work, this hypothesis requires that the degree of screening of migrants by the host country is limited and that the possibility of migration actually encourages home country residents to obtain education. We studied the implications of doctors¿ migration by conducting a survey among overseas doctors in the UK. The results suggest that the overseas doctors who come to the UK are carefully screened and that only a minority of doctors from developing countries considered the possibility of migration when they chose to obtain medical education. The incentive effect is thus probably not large enough to increase the skills-supply in developing countries. Doctors do, however, remit income to their home countries and many intend to return after completing their training in the UK, so there could be benefits via these routes.

Item Type:	Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL:	http://cep.lse.ac.uk
Additional Information:	© 2004 the authors
Divisions:	Centre for Economic Performance
Subjects:	R Medicine > R Medicine (General) H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
JEL classification:	J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J4 - Particular Labor Markets > J44 - Professional Labor Markets and Occupations F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business > F22 - International Migration J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J6 - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies > J61 - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
Date Deposited:	28 Jul 2008 08:21
Last Modified:	13 Sep 2024 19:52
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/19984

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