Brain Drain or Brain Circulation? Economic and Non-Economic Factors Driving the International Migration of German Citizens

Abstract

International movements by people from economically highly developed welfare states are a puzzle for the classic canon of migration theories, which generally focus on flows from less to more developed regions. Based on a simple theoretical framework linking largely disparate literatures on international and internal migration as well as the field of global work experience, this chapter provides an analysis of the emigration and remigration decisions of German citizens. Whereas the five theoretical dimensions-expected financial returns, job satisfaction, social capital, mobility capital, and employment in transnational professions-already explain much of the variance in the emigration decisions, the theoretical and empirical understanding of remigration decision-making processes remains a challenge. Contributing to recent debates about a brain drain from economically highly developed countries, this chapter provides evidence that the international migration of German citizens is best understood as brain circulation. Temporary migration dominates these international movements and emigrants are similar to remigrants along many theoretical dimensions. Although some indications for a potential loss of human capital caused by international migration do exist, they remain insignificant in light of Germany’s overall volume of international migration. Political debates about flows of people from highly developed countries should focus less on potential losses of human capital for national economies and more on the economic and non-economic returns international migration offers for individual life courses.

International Migration of Researchers: Impact of Professional Drivers

“…They include various aspects that attract people to a certain place of residence and they are also classified into economic, social and political factors of migration. Naumovski [3], in addition to the three selected groups, also proposes to include factors that are related to the mental desire of the individual (or group of people) for better his/their (family) social status. At the same time, the scholar identifies such major social factors as possible educational solution, better career advancement opportunities, and culturally disseminated knowledge of other areas, which 'pull' intellectual migrants.…”

“…Therefore, for such migrants, professional factors are fundamental when changing their place of residence and looking for work abroad. Furthermore, it has been proven that the brain that migrated to a selected elsewhere could produce 4.5 times more publications and 10 times more patents than its home counterparts, and the main causes of brain drain are non-financing, technical support and non-infrastructure in home countries [3]. Thus, the literature review allows us to state that in the case of international migration of scientists and researchers, it is the professional drivers of migration that are truly decisive [17][18][19][20].…”

“…Furthermore, it has been proven that the brain that migrated to a selected elsewhere could produce 4.5 times more publications and 10 times more patents than its home counterparts, and the main causes of brain drain are non-financing, technical support and non-infrastructure in home countries [3]. Thus, the literature review allows us to state that in the case of international migration of scientists and researchers, it is the professional drivers of migration that are truly decisive [17][18][19][20]. Particularly, the objective of another research (Siekierski et al, 2018) was to investigate which of the following factors is most important in the academics mobility decision: the impact of the science, technology and innovation (ST&I) infrastructure, or the quality of life in the host country The scientists considered journals of scientific prestige and research and development (R&D) institutions as proxies for ST&I and the human development index (HDI) as a proxy for quality of life.…”

“…Simultaneously, the justification of researchers' mobility drivers is focused on the predominance of professional and individual objectives, such as personal fulfilment and career development. Nowadays, if a professor, researcher or scientist leaves his/her native country, s/he is looking for a proper job, career growth, a decent salary and a high quality of life [3].…”