Give Us Your Best and Brightest: The Global Hunt for Talent and Its impact on the Developing World

Journal of Third World Studies, Spring 2008 by Haque, Muhammad M

Kapur, Devesh. and John McHaIe. Give Us Your Best and Brightest: The Global Hunt for Talent and Its impact on the Developing World. Washington, D.C: Center for Global Development, 2005. 246 pp.

The phenomenon of human migration is as old as human history itself. People have constantly remained on the move in search of basic needs as well as to avoid persecution related to various religious and philosophical issues. The existence of sedentary living came into being when any group found opportunities, conducive to settlement, for a prolonged amount of time. The reasons for migration might have been countless, however, some probably have been at the base more man others, economic being a significant one. Along the issue of economic motive, some migrated to meet basic needs and some for luxuries, either permanently or for a temporary period.

The two authors, with expertise in migration and development, attempt to formulate an etiological paradigm to explore international migration along the line of global transfer of talents and its consequential underpinnings, simultaneously for poor as well as rich countries. The findings suggest that the emigration of workers from the poor to the rich countries, especially in the high-tech areas or service sectors, is driven in most cases by the policies made by the rich countries. According to conventional wisdom, this process negatively affects the poor countries, from the individual to the institutional and infrastructural levels. The authors - using data collected by various national and international agencies - argue that while such wisdom may hold a significant element of truth in explaining a large variation in the process, nonetheless, on an evolutionary scale, the pattern is changing. This implies that the migration process, involving flow from the poor to the rich countries, affects both sides, negatively and positively, as well. The rich countries gain cheap laborers, which results in the cost of production, and at the same time, they also lose the high wage working force, affecting the overall socioeconomic structure. In the process, poor countries benefit, over time, by the financial remittance and transfer of technology flowing from the immigrants in the rich countries. This beneficial component sharply varies among the developing regions. The authors agree that the weight of this component may not be as high as the flip side. Overtime, it may parallel changing the balance of the equation, adopting a specific set of policies. They also caution the reader with regard to the overly firm conclusiveness in the assumptions and findings due to the lack of high richness in the data used in the analysis.

The book is composed often chapters. The first chapter presents the general assumptions as highlighted in the first two paragraphs. The next eight chapters explore the key issues and the analytical findings. The last chapter presents the conclusion, with a set of policy measures that may serve to mitigate the problems on each side of the social globe.

The second chapter addresses the methodological issues in the analysis associated with lack of data on international migration and financial exchanges accompanied by poor quality of the available data. It is suggested that data problem arises due, in most cases, to lack of interest in the procurement, not realizing the visibility and the time constraints related to financial sectors. The available data show that most emigrants from the developing countries have higher educational levels, especially those who are 25 years of age or above. They also originate mostly from the tertiary areas which could be used for infrastructure building. The third chapter suggests that migration from the developing countries take place in the context of the policies structured in the recipient countries in support of the needed job market and economic feasibility, offering temporary or permanent opportunities. The fourth chapter states that the immigration policies in the rich countries are increasingly becoming skill based, associated with technological change. Additionally, population aging and the process of globalization involving amalgamation of various outputs needed in the international market, each intersecting with other, speeding up the process further. The fifth chapter highlights the conditions under which migration decisions are made in the developing countries. In general, the emigration prospect arises with changing sociopolitical and economic changes, accumulation of capital, lacking extra educational advantage orto add extra educational advantage, and having social ties abroad.

The sixth chapter discusses the negative effects of emigration decision. The perception and then the actual emigration reduce the size of the talent pool, thereby weakening the structural base through reducing the tax revenue which would otherwise enhance the fiscal system. Having the educated and skilled worker at home base would also have a spillover effect, augmenting the institution building capacity. The seventh chapter addresses the role of the dispersion of people from the homeland. Those who leave the countries, especially the first generations, usually remain in touch with those left behind in various ways, including maintaining business relations, financial remittances, and the transfer of necessary skills, relative to the policies maintained in the home countries. The eighth chapter addresses the specific role of financial remittance in the way it affects the developmental process. The current evidence suggests that the financial transfer to the developing region is on the rise, reducing the level of poverty accompanied by some notable political changes. However, to what extent the countries are positively affected at the macrolevel is not clear. The ninth chapter presents an interesting scenario by stating that not everyone stays permanently after emigration. Many return with new skills and resources, with plans to retire, invest, and reestablish familial ties, often resulting in the rise of entrepreneurial activities. In the final chapter, a series of policy measures are introduced, targeting both ends of the global economic scale, however, especially to alleviate the sufferings in the poor countries. These policies involve reduction in targeting scarce talents, sharing the benefits, investment in the domestic economy, and removal of obstacles to temporary migration to strengthen the Diaspora.