The reverse transfer of technology from Sub-Saharan Africa: the case of Zimbabwe

The article investigates the potential reverse transfer of technology (brain drain) from Zimbabwe, using as case study, academic staff at the main campus of the University of Zimbabwe.
A questionnaire survey was employed to separate all Zimbabwean academic staff into two groups: those who express an intention to emigrate in the near future (1-3 years) and those who express an intention to stay home.
The demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the two groups are discussed, as are the factors cited for dissatisfaction with conditions at the source (the institution and the country), potential destinations, and attractions ("pull" factors) at these destinations.
The study concludes that the decision to emigrate is based on an untidy combination of economic, cultural, social and geographic considerations.     

Cohabitation Transitions Among Low-income Parents: A Qualitative Investigation of Economic and Relational Motivations

At the intersection of the cohabitation and residential mobility literatures is an opportunity to better understand the factors that shape cohabitation choices for low-income couples. By investigating push and pull factors associated with cohabitation, this study aimed to identify linkages between cohabitation transitions and the broader socioeconomic context within which they occur. Collecting data from both members of low-income couples and carefully tracking all residential and cohabitation transitions made it possible to identify a wide range of push and pull factors that motivate couples to move. The findings suggest that cohabitation transitions were often motivated by economic necessity. Romantic partnerships, while important, were less frequently mentioned than other factors (i.e., interpersonal negotiations, finances, housing quality) in determining a couple’s living arrangements. These findings have important implications for understanding the complex relationship between economic and non-economic factors that shape romantic relationships.     

Pushed or Pulled? Women's Entry into Self‐Employment and Small Business Ownership

Over the past two decades the economies of Canada and many other industrialized countries have seen significant restructuring, bringing with it steadily rising levels of self‐employment and small business ownership. Women have been at the forefront of this change. Of the many questions raised by women's entrance into self‐employment, a central one concerns the factors fuelling its growth. While some argue that women have been pulled into self‐employment by the promise of independence, flexibility and the opportunity to escape barriers in paid employment, others argue that women have been pushed into it as restructuring and downsizing has eroded the availability of once secure jobs in the public and private sector. To date, existing research on the ‘push–pull’ debate has not fully answered; these questions, with survey and labour force data suggesting only general and sometimes contradictory, trends. This article examines this issue in greater detail, drawing on in‐depth interviews with 61 self‐employed women in Canada. Overall their experiences shed further light on the expansion of women's self‐employment in the 1990s, suggesting push factors have been underestimated and challenging the current contours of the ‘push–pull’ debate.     

Causes,Challenges and Prospects of Brain Drain: The Case of Eritrea

While there is little doubt that highly skilled workers in many Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are scarce, it is also true that many highly trained professionals have left LDCs to go and work in the developed world. The latter, known as the “brain drain,” or simply human capital flight, is not at all a new phenomenon; it has only become more pronounced in recent years. This paper delves into the causes, challenges, and prospects of the phenomenon of the “brain drain” in LDCs, by taking Eritrea as a case study. In so doing, it demonstrates that deteriorating economic conditions, lack of good governance and political instability are the root causes of the “brain drain” in LDCs such as Eritrea. The paper also highlights the impact of the “brain drain”, and suggests some of the measures that may be put in place by governments of LDCs in order to redress the situation.     

Return of talent programs: rationale and evaluation criteria for programs to ameliorate a 'brain drain'

The term, brain drain, describes the loss of skilled professionals and the nonreturn of students from advanced study abroad. It is now used almost exclusively in reference to mobility from less developed countries to more developed countries. Controversy centers on whether needed skills are being drawn off unfairly at subsidized rates from developing to developed countries or whether excess capability is being utilized in developed countries rather than underemployed or wasted at home. Some causes of high level personnel migration include: 1) wage differentials between sending and receiving countries; 2) absence of opportunities for career development or mobility for reasons other than merit or accomplishment; 3) lack of high quality facilities, equipment, time, and other costly supports in developing countries; 4) employer's lack of knowledge of employee work and the resulting wages; and 5) political disagreement or persecution. Prospects for closing wage gaps and upgrading working conditions on a large scale in developing countries are dim. Growth of the labor force coupled with national needs that are not congruent with professions requiring costly facilities, supplies, and equipment make this a slim possibility. Increasing career mobility possibilities seems to be a more promising route to reducing brain drain. One form of preventive measure is offering study abroad which requires service at the end of the study period; a variation is to guarantee employment for university graduates or for certain sectors, such as scientists. Restructuring decisions on hiring and promotion would have a positive effect, as would developing a better evaluation of expected productivity by type of training. Successful return of talent programs will be relatively modest in terms of the number of people returning and should be thought of as a part of human capital investment. Programs that are concerned with filling positions rather than with luring talent home are more likely to be efficient. The employing agency should be involved and should have some flexibility in negotiation with employment candidates to curb the unnecessary use of resources. In summary, return of talent programs should be used as a tool for development that reduces the incentives for nonreturn from training of for emigration by experienced professionals, not as a brain drain cure.     

Migration Motives of University Students: An Empirical Research

The main aim of this paper is to analyse the motives affecting the migration decisions of young people, particularly university students. Two scales were developed for measuring the perception of the importance of these motives. The data used in the research were collected via a survey of the opinions and attitudes of university students in Osijek, in June 2010. The paper also analyses psychometric properties of the scales – their dimensionality and reliability. The results of a confirmatory factor analysis undoubtedly indicate that both scales are multidimensional constructs. A combination of the results of t‐tests for an independent sample, factor analysis (exploratory and confirmatory) and reliability analysis suggest that emigration and stay motives are two sides of the same migration decision, and that they can be classified into several factors: the economic situation, social networks, insider advantages (that can be divided into inherited amenities and public‐safety conditions) and the wealth of opportunities. Depending on the power of the initial and target destination, the factors can function as ‘push’ or ‘pull’ factors. The results of the study show social networks as being the only ‘pull’ factor for the city of Osijek, whereas the other factors, especially the economic ones, proved to demonstrate the ‘push’ effect. However, the effects of all factors were very mild.     

Education in the crucible of a postcolonial revolution: community reaction to the challenges of Zimbabwe’s crisis

It is paradoxical that when Zimbabwe was experiencing the worst economic situation in its recorded history and the highest inflation rate ever experienced worldwide by any nation at peace, its educational achievements were unprecedented. The economy had untold negative effects on the education system causing mass exodus of teachers, dilapidation of infrastructure, shortage of library books and even lack of food. However, against this backdrop, the country scored major successes in education. In 2010, Zimbabwe became the highest ranked in terms of literacy on the continent. University enrolment was ninefold by 2006, and technical and vocational education has achieved similar developments. How and by what means? Research on education has so far mainly focused on the institutions of higher learning with little or no concern at all about community activities and efforts to sustain education at various levels. In fact until recently university education in Zimbabwe has had little community participation. This had to change during the last decade when the state could not afford to fund its own army, let alone education. Donor, bilateral and multilateral funding were withdrawn as the sanctions screw tightened. This research explores the community (students and parents) efforts in sustaining education from secondary to tertiary institutions. How did parents and students react to the deteriorating conditions of education and with what effect? The study findings indicate parents responded by supporting teachers with money and food, engaging in economic activities such as cross-border trading, and were involved in teaching the students. The students also responded by engaging in peer education and sharing resources such as books. This study could widen our understanding of community participation in education particularly at university level.     

India: ‘Brain Drain’ or the Migration of Talent?

2 views on "brain drain" exist: 1) LDCs lose their enormous investments on higher education when skilled people migrate to other countries and 2) LDCs are exaggerating the problem and only a few skilled people migrate at 1 time. India does not completely lose its investment in education when professionals migrate, since the migrants still contribute to knowledge and also send remittances to relatives in India. Unemployed educated people would cause a greater drain on India's resources than educated migrants. The author prefers the phrase migration of talent to brain drain, since the former indicates a 2-way movement. Most migrants from LDCs are students. About 11,000 university graduates leave India every year for advanced study and/or work. A conservative estimate is that 2500 will remain abroad permanently. Most professionals who migrate go to the US and Canada. Factors promoting migration include 1) unemployment, 2) immigration rules, 3) colonial links, 4) financial incentives and material benefits, 5) pursuit of higher education, 6) improvement of working conditions and facilities, 7) avoidance of excessive bureaucratic procedures, and 8) compensation for the mismatch between Indian education and employment. Reasons for returning to India include 1) deference to wives who were unable to adjust to a foreign way of life, 2) contributing to Indian development, and 3) racial discrimination. It will probably not be possible to lure back migrants who left for material reasons. Attractive job offers could entice back those who left for advanced training. To encourage the return of those who left to pursue high quality research, India must 1) increase expenditure on research and development, possibly through the private industrial sector, 2) promote travel to other countries for professional enrichment, and 3) improve conditions of research work. The article concludes with an analysis of migration of talent from 3 perspectives: 1) the individual, 2) the nation-state, and 3) the world as a whole.     

Determinants of the Egyptian labour migration

The objective is to summarize the pattern of Egyptian migration to Arab oil-producing countries (AOPC), to review some factors that are important determinants of labor movement based on theory, and to empirically model the migration rate to AOPC and to Saudi Arabia. Factors are differentiated as to their relative importance. Push factors are the low wages, high inflation rate, and high population density in Egypt; pull factors are higher wages. It is predicted that an increase in income from destination countries has a significant positive impact on the migration rate. An increase in population density stimulates migration. An increase in inflation acts to increase out-migration with a 2-year lag, which accommodates departure preparation. Egypt's experience with labor migration is described for the pre-oil boom, and the post-oil boom. Several estimates of labor migration are given. Government policy toward migration is positive. Theory postulates migration to be determined by differences in the availability of labor, labor rewards between destination and origin, and the cost of migration. In the empirical model, push factors are population density, the current inflation rate, and the ratio of income/capita in AOPC to Egypt. The results indicate that the ratio of income/capita had a strong pull impact and population density had a strong push impact. The inflation rate has a positive impact with a lag estimated at 2 years. Prior to the Camp David Accord, there was a significant decrease in the number of Egyptian migrants due to political tension. The findings support the classical theory of factor mobility. The consequences of migration on the Egyptian economy have been adverse. Future models should disaggregate data because chronic shortages exist in some parts of the labor market. Manpower needs assessment would be helpful for policy makers.     

“I saw the handwriting on the wall”: shades of meaning in reasons for early retirement

This article attempts to locate people's individual decisions to take early retirement in the particular social and economic context in which these decisions are being made. Results are presented from a phenomenological case study of a particular group of people who talked about their reasons for having taken early retirement from a particular company. The analysis indicates that the reasons people give for their decision do not always fall neatly into dichotomous explanatory categories such as “health versus wealth,” “push versus pull factors,” or “voluntary versus involuntary,” as suggested by much of the current literature. Rather, this decision is fraught with shades of ambiguity, and involves complex and multiple considerations at the personal, workplace, and societal levels.     

Individual and institutional push and pull factors as predictors of retirement timing in Europe: A multilevel analysis

The number of retired people in Europe has increased significantly in recent decades. It remains unclear, however, whether individuals are more likely to be pulled toward retirement by their expectations about life after retirement than they are to be pushed out of the labour market due to poor health or dislike of one's job. The fact that retirement timing differs rather considerably between European countries suggests that not only micro, but also macro push (i.e. labour market constraints) and pull (i.e. economic incentives) factors influence retirement decisions. This duality heightens the need to determine the influence of micro-level and macro-level push and pull indicators on the retirement timing of older workers (50 +) in Europe. Results are obtained performing multilevel event history analysis using longitudinal micro data from the first (2004/05) and second (2006/07) waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe and macro data derived from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Eurostat. The results indicate that at the individual level, older workers are pushed out due to health problems as well as being attracted towards retirement to spend time with their grandchildren. At the institutional level, financial incentives such as a high implicit tax on continued work and high expenditures on early exit schemes make retirement attractive, whereas the institutional push context is of lesser importance.     

Examining the Global North Migration Policies: A “Push Out – Push Back” Approach to Forced Migration

In this paper we focus on adapting the concept of push – pull factors to forced migration by proposing a “push out – push back” approach that underlines two most crucial elements of forced migrants’ experience. On the one hand, it stresses the reasons for leaving countries of origin or of temporary refuge that are not dependant on the will of people who flew those places, thus the “push out” factors. On the other hand, it represents the refusal of the countries of the Global North to accept forced migrants and their use of various practices, amounting to “push back” factors, to prevent them from entering or leaving their territory if they manage to reach it. These factors can be divided into three groups: passive, active, and symbolic.     

Portuguese Scientists’ Migration: a study on the 2008 crisis aftermath

In the economic and social aftermath of the 2008 crisis there has been an important and growing new wave of highly qualified Portuguese emigration comprising scientists. No or very few public policies have been designed to reverse this phenomenon, risking the consequences of brain drain. International literature argues that professional reasons are central to scientists’ decision to migrate, even after the 2008 crisis. Spending some time in a foreign country to study, research, or teach, is perceived as a common step in an individual academic trajectory and an advantage for a successful professional career in academia. It is also encouraged by European Union policies. Twelve individual portraits of Portuguese scientists living in central Europe reveal how important other factors are to the migration decision‐making process. These factors include the economic crisis, student mobility programmes, and the current Portuguese scientific system revision.     

Labor migration in Asia

"A recent conference sponsored by the United Nations Center for Regional Development (UNCRD) in Nagoya, Japan examined the growing importance of labor migration for four major Asian labor importers (Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore) and five major labor exporters (Bangladesh, Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, and Thailand).... The conference concluded that international labor migration would increase within Asia because the tight labor markets and rising wages which have stimulated Japanese investment in other Asian nations, for example, have not been sufficient to eliminate migration push and pull forces...."     

Migrations of ethnic unmixing in the "New Europe"

"This article addresses a... neglected, link between migration and ethnicity or nationality in Europe. It explores migrations of ?ethnic unmixing' or ?ethnic affinity'. Ethnic unmixing and ethnic affinity have somewhat different connotations and call attention to two distinct respects in which ethnicity may figure in such migrations: (1) as a push factors at the point of origin, and (2) as a pull factor at the point of destination. "     

Bildung und Übergang in den Ruhestand

On the basis of administrative data from the Research Data Centre (FDZ-RV) of the German Federal Pension Insurance, we examine the effects education has on the timing of retirement for employees in East and West Germany in 2007. The large sample size of the Scientific Use File of the pension inflow statistics (n = 29933) allows a differentiated analysis considering multiple dimensions. Using key demographic indicators such as sex, region, length of career and pension payments, we demonstrate the effects of the level of education on the age of retirement, measured in years between 60 and 65 or older. Our analysis shows that high skilled retire later than low skilled employees. The difference is smaller than one year. But the beginning of the high skilled careers is round about two years later, with higher pension payments. Based on this findings, we discuss to which extent skills can lengthen the lifetime career with respect to pull and push factors.     

Luanda – Holanda: Irregular Migration from Angola to the Netherlands

Against the backdrop of push‐pull and social network theories on migration and criminological theory on human smuggling, this article tries to answer the questions of why and how Angolan asylum‐seekers migrated to the Netherlands since the end of the 1990s. The study shows that the migrants can be described as opportunity seeking migrants, rather than survival migrants. Most migrants made no use of typical human smugglers during their travel. They rather used assistance from their social network and made use of the services of middlemen, called esquemas, on an ad‐hoc basis. In this article it is argued that “archetypal” large smuggling organisations in Angola have not evolved because of the existence of these highly informal networks. Support is found that both push‐pull and social network theories can contribute to explaining irregular, asylum migration.     

Male‐female sexual variations: Functions of biology or culture

Smith, Grov, Seal, and McCall's (2012) analysis, focusing on how young men become, and stay, involved in male escorting, is a welcome contribution to the still relatively thin male sex worker literature. For this study group, notably supportive working surroundings, effective coping strategies, and a growing sense of “self-efficacy” eventually turn sex work into an increasingly comfortable experience and viable moneymaking option. In this commentary, I add some reflections from a broader perspective to these insights. I also consider some evidence on the numbers of men and women in sex work and make some observations on male versus female positions related to push and pull factors, stigma, and the experience of sex work.