Where Do High-Skill Migrants Go?
According to a new working paper by NBER,
The number of migrants with a tertiary degree rose nearly 130 percent from 1990 to 2010, while low skilled (primary educated) migrants increased by only 40 percent during that time. A pattern is emerging in which these high-skilled migrants are departing from a broader range of countries and heading to a narrower range of countries—in particular, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. The globalization of economic ties is also leading to a rise in shorter-term and circular migration patterns for skilled labor; for example, global companies often insist that their rising executives live and work in other countries for a meaningful portion of their careers.
Researchers, following studies like Peri and Sparber (2011), are now developing a deeper understanding of the types of skills that port well across countries (such as STEM, computer programming, and academic research) and the underlying traits of these skills (such as weaker dependence on local culture and language, limited returns to local experience).
The high-skilled members of the next generation appear to be less tied to any particular location or national identity, but instead have mentalities and connections that are much more global in nature than those of their predecessors. Moreover, the culture and outlook of companies and other employers, such as universities and football clubs, that employ the global talents are also becoming more global as their workforce is drawn from different corners of the world. Academics, business leaders and policymakers have only just started to grapple with these implications. The most successful individuals, employers and countries will be those that discern how to best navigate the current global labor markets and sidestep the government-imposed limitations on high-skilled immigration.
The above points to an ever greater ease of movement for the highly-skilled around the globe. The paper points out that this trend is likely to continue.