PREM Note 123 brain drain migration development.indd

International flows of high-skilled talent from developing countries to high-income OECD countries have grown in recent decades. Between 1970 and 1997, the number of foreign-born individuals in science and engineering occupations in the United States increased at three times the rate as that of natives, going from 7.6 percent in 1970 to 15 percent in 1997 (D’Costa, 2008). More recent data from the U.S. National Science Foundation shows that there are some 3.3 million immigrant scientists and engineers in the United States (16 percent of the total), with 2.5 million of these from developing countries (Kannankutty and Burrelli, 2007). The global competition for technical talent has led to creation of special visas to encourage immigration of high-skilled professionals in Australia, Austria, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other countries.2 The topics of brain drain and international talent mobility have important implications for development. The questions related to the global mobility of high-skilled workers can be grouped into two related topics: 1. brain gain and brain drain, and related to these, the challenge of retaining and attracting high-skilled professionals such as doctors, scientists, and engineers; and 2. the contribution of the diaspora in fostering the transfer of knowledge, technology, and finance, including remittances.