Croissance et convergence des régions - Théorie, faits et déterminants (2000)

Du point de vue socio-économique ou démographique, les Régions belges sont fort hétérogènes. Aussi, les transferts financiers qui s’opèrent entre elles, exercent-ils des effets redistributifs importants. Cette solidarité se matérialise sous des formes diverses : certaines sont explicites et transparentes, d’autres sont implicites et plus malaisées à quantifier. Au travers de neuf contributions d’économistes belges, sensibilisés par la problématique des Régions et des Communautés, cet ouvrage tente d’éclaircir le débat récent sur la redistribution interrégionale. Il se compose de trois parties : la première analyse les modalités d’application de la solidarité actuelle, la seconde en étudie les effets redistributifs et la troisième aborde les perspectives d’avenir, face aux mutations institutionnelles et démographiques possibles.

Ont participé, par ordre aplhabétique, Bruno Amable, Didier Baudewyns, Michel Beine, Mohammed Ben Ayad, Henri Capron, Michel Cincerra, Jean-Luc Demeulemeester, Arnaud Desurmont, Frédéric Docquier, Masahisa Fujita, Oded Galor, Jean Houard, Philippe Jean-Pierre, Abdeslam Marfouk, Olivier Meunier, Michel Mignolet, Philippe Monfort, Marie-Eve Mulquin, Denis Rochat, Khalid Sekkat, Jacques-François Thisse, Isabelle Thomas, Laurence Vieslet, Pierre Wunsch..

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Capital humain et dualisme sur le marché du travail (2002)

L’objet de cet ouvrage est d’explorer les interactions économiques majeures entre le capital humain, le fonctionnement du marché du travail et la croissance régionale. Trois parties peuvent être distinguées. La première traite du dualisme sur le marché du travail en Belgique et dans les pays développés. La seconde aborde les liens fondamentaux entre capital humain et emploi. La troisième explore les implications macroéconomiques en matière de croissance et de convergence régionale. Une annexe statistique illustre l’état du marché du travail et de l’offre de qualifications en Belgique et dans les régions européennes.

Ont participé, par ordre alphabétique, L. Broze, I. Cassiers, B. Cockx, B. Conter, S. Coulombe, O. Debande, M. Dejemeppe, M. Demeuse, E. Dhyne, J.L. De Meulemeester, V. Dupriez, C. Gavray, I. Guerrero, J.L. Guyot, M. Laffut, S. Laurent, Ph. Ledent, C. Mainguet, B. Mahy, C. Maroy, Ph. Monfort, J.F. Orianne, S. Perelman, J. Ries, J. Rodrigues, C. Ruyters, G. Saint-Paul, C. Salmon, F. Shadman-Metha, H. Sneessens, J.F. Tremblay, V. Vandenberghe, F. Vanderkelen, B. Vanderlinden, B. Van Haeperen, E. Wasmer et M.D. Zachary.

 

 

Special issue on skilled migration - BER 17(1) (2004)

the purpose of this special issue is offer an up-to-date survey of the major contributions regarding the international migration of skilled workers. Our panel of studies provides important insights on the recent policy decisions toward immigration, on the composition of migration flows and on the economic consequences for both sending and receiving countries. The first two papers depict the literature on the economic consequences of skilled migration. Xavier Chojnicki examines the impact on receiving countries, focusing on the labor market and on public finance. He discusses the role of skilled migration in the debate on aging and welfare reforms. Simon Commander, Mari Kangasmieni and Alan Winters present the consequences for sending countries. After reviewing earlier and recent models, they summarize the conclusions of econometric studies based on UK individual survey data for health workers and software specialists. The next two contributions provide highly instructive information on the evolution and the consequences of selective policies in industrialized countries. Heather Antecol, Deborah Cobb-Clark and Stephen Trejo compare selective immigration policies in Australia, Canada and the USA over the 20th century. Then, they review the immigration outcomes in regard of policy changes. Point tests systems implemented in Canada and Australia have obviously altered the skill levels of immigrants. However, they conclude that factors other than immigration policy are also important (social, historical or geographic explanations). Thomas Bauer and Astrid Kunze describe the German policy initiatives on temporary immigration of high-skilled workers. Using an international employer survey, they argue that the temporary green cards system partly satisfies the demand of firms for foreign specialists. They therefore point the need for a more comprehensive policy involving permanent visas. The third part of this issue is devoted to the presentation of original contributions to the new literature of brain drain. Manon Dos Santos and Fabien Postel-Vinay build a model in which temporary migration can be seen as a potential source of growth for the emigrant’s country, since it allows migrants to acquire knowledge and skills abroad. From the source country point of view, they derive the optimal mix of permanent and temporary visas. Hillel Rapoport provides existing evidence on brain drain and presents the incentive mechanism. He argues that migration prospects increase the expected return to education in poor countries and foster domestic enrollment in education. When this “brain effect” dominates the observed emigration (or “drain”) effect, a brain drain with a brain gain is obtained. Dilek Cinar and Frédéric Docquier model the long-run impact of skilled migration when emigrants remit a part of the income earned abroad. As remittances make liquidity constraints less binding, a long-run gain can also be obtained. However, they argue that such a brain gain emerges under some restrictive conditions. Alice Mesnard empirically demonstrates, in the case of Tunisian workers, that temporary migration has contributed to the economic development of Tunisia via two main channels, remittances and return migration with repatriated savings. She convincingly shows that temporary migration allows workers to overcome credit constraints for investments into small business projects. The last two contributions deal with the Belgian particular case. The paper by Marc Debuisson, Frédéric Docquier, Abdul Noury and Madeleine Nantcho provides a description of the structure of foreign population in Belgium. It analyses the assimilation of immigrants on the local labor markets and evaluates the regional need for migration in the face of demographic changes. Finally, Michele Cincera illustrates the strong linkages between human capital mobility and technology. Using worldwide patent statistics, he measures the net foreign investment in the area of R&D and discusses their effect on the demand for skilled workers in Belgium. The preliminary evidence suggests that R&D investments in Belgium might have reduced the importance of brain drain: They could furthermore generate a brain gain as new qualified personnel from the headquarters of multinational firms are attracted in the country as well as brain exchange for the host country.

Brain drain and brain gain - the global competititon to attract high-skilled migrants (2012)

The worldwide race to attract talents is getting tougher. The US has been leading the race, with its ability to attract PhD candidates and graduates not only from emerging countries, but also from the European Union. However, a growing number of countries have adopted immigration policies specifically aimed at selecting and attracting skilled workers. This book describes the global competition to attract talents. It focuses in particular on two phenomena: the drain brain and brain gain associated with high-skilled migration. Part I provides an overview of immigration policies designed to draw in skilled workers. It describes the economic gains associated with skilled immigration in the destination countries and the main determinants of the inflows of skilled immigrants (such as wage premia on education and R&D spending). It also discusses why skill-selective immigration policies do not find more support in receiving countries, and shows that interest groups are actively engaged in affecting policies towards skilled migrants. Finally, it demonstrates that the increasing competition for high-skilled workers can result in a 'tragedy of the commons' such that policy coordination is needed to achieve the optimal level of high-skilled immigration. Part II examines the consequences of brain drain for the sending countries. It reviews the channels through which skilled emigration can affect the source countries and looks at remittances, return migration, diaspora externalities, and network effects that may compensate the sending countries for their loss of human capital. It also evaluates the role of emigration prospects in determining education decisions and human capital formation in source countries. Contrary to traditional wisdom, the results indicate that many developing countries experience a net gain from skilled emigration.

 

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