Economic development and export of human capital. A contradiction?

Higher education is increasingly becoming an important factor in determining the success of the migration process from the individual point of view. To the sending countries, the migration of its human capital may be associated with high social costs as their scarce resources are spent on individuals who will later be productive elsewhere. The hypothesis of this study is that there is a positive social return on an investment in higher education even if the educated people (skilled workers) choose to out-migrate. Furthermore, a deliberate policy aimed at providing a surplus of higher education graduates can be seen as an ”export” strategy leading to positive social returns to the country practising it. The study attempts to evaluate the net result of an individual’s out-migration to the sending country via a cost-benefit approach.