Globalization, Brain Drain, and its Impact in Nepal
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.57125/FP.2024.09.30.01Keywords:
Brain drain, diaspora, globalisation, Nepal, sociological perspective, sustainable developmentAbstract
Nowadays, brain drain is a significant concern for every household in developing countries like Nepal, as students often relocate to developed nations for academic purposes. In this terms, the research's goals were the next: to determine the causes of the brain drain among Nepalese students, to investigate how the brain drain of Nepalese students is impacted by globalisation. Both primary and secondary sources of data were utilised in this mixed-methods study. Descriptive and analytical research methodologies were applied in the study. In the globalised world, the brain drain has had more detrimental than beneficial effects on developing nations like Nepal. One of the main issues that globalisation has brought about for Nepal is the brain drain. This research underscored the imperative for the Nepalese government, development partners, and national development planners to acknowledge and address the issue of brain drain. It highlighted the necessity for sustainable development initiatives and targeted campaigns designed to improve local educational and professional facilities, thereby retaining Nepalese students and mitigating the adverse impacts of the brain drain. In an effort to further their education in developed nations and gain valuable experiences and practical skills that will help them in the globalised job market, an increasing number of students are leaving their home country to pursue higher education there. This paper aimed to investigate the effects of globalisation and the factors contributing to the brain drain in Nepal. Data was gathered through in-depth interviews with preparatory students for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), which used open-ended questions. The social, political, economic, and institutional elements that were essential for fostering the brain circulation or brain linkage sustainable development plan policies and putting into practice a campaign to materialise the idea of a "prosperous Nepal-happy Nepali" in a globalised society were also highlighted and identified in this paper.
References
Abdullaeva, N. (2020). Terminological and theoretical considerations of international student migration. In Tertiary student migration from Central Asia to Germany: Cases of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan (pp. 19–38). Wiesbaden: Springer VS. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-29020-7
Acharya, K. P. (2012). Nepalese student migration to foreign countries for higher education in the globalized context [Unpublished PhD thesis]. Dhulikhel: Kathmandu University.
Adeyemi, R. A., Joel, A., Ebenezer, J. T., & Attah, E. Y. (2018). The effect of brain drain on the economic development of developing countries: Evidence from selected African countries. Journal of Health and Social Issues (JOHESI), 7(2), 66–76.
Bhagwati, J. (2011). Preface for symposium on globalization and the brain drain in the Journal of Development Economics, 2010. Journal of Development Economics, 95, 1–3. https://doi.org/10.7916/D8TH8XD7
Boeri, T., Hanson, G., & McCormick, B. (2002). Immigration policy and welfare system. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Brassington, I. (2012). What's wrong with the brain drain (?). Developing World Bioethics, 12(3), 113–120. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-8847.2011.00300.x
Brooks, R., & Waters, J. (2010). Social networks and educational mobility: The experience of UK students. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 8(1), 143–157. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767720903574132
Cao, X. (1996). Debating ‘brain drain’ in the context of globalization. Compare, 26(3), 269–285. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305792960260303
Castle, M. & Stephen, M. (2003). The age of migration: International population movement in the modern world. New York: Institution of Studies.
Cervantes, M., & Guellec, D. (2002). The Brain Drain: old myths, new realities. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The OECD Observer, (230), 40–42. https://www.proquest.com/openview/0a5f4bfbdc5193782399ef19834cf419/
Chacko, E. (2020). Emerging precarity among international students in Singapore: Experiences, Understandings and responses. Journal of Ethnics and Migration Studies, 47(20), 4741–4757. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2020.1732618
Clemens, M. A. (2009). Skill flow: A fundamental reconsideration of skilled-worker mobility and development. SSRN. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1477129
Clifford, J. (1997). Routes: Travel and translation in the late twentieth century. Harvard University Press.
de Jong, P. W., & Fonseca, M. L. (2020). The role of the origin country in migration aspirations: A cross‐national comparison of Master students in Portugal and the Netherlands. Population, Space and Place, 26(5), Article e2325. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2325
Docquier, F. (2014). The brain drain from developing countries. IZA World of Labor 2014, 31. https://doi.org/10.15185/izawol.31
Docquier, F., Lohest, O., & Marfouk, A. (2007). Brain drain in developing countries. The World Bank Economic Review, 21(2), 193–218. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhm008
Docquier, F., & Rapoport, H. (2012. Quantifying the impact of highly skilled emigration on developing countries. In T. Boeri, H. Brucker, F. Docquier, & H. Rapport (Eds), Brain drain and brain gain: The global competition to attract high skilled migrants. Oxford University Press. https://www.frdb.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/BRAIN-GAIN-Doquier.pdf
Faini, R. (2003). The brain drain: An unmitigated blessing (Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano development studies working paper No. 173). SSRN. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.463021
Fiske, R. (2011). Economics of globalization. United Kingdom: Ashgate Publishing.
Frank, R. H. (1985). The demand for unobservable and other nonpositional goods. The American Economic Review, 75(1), 101–116. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1812706
Friesen, W. (2014). The Indian diaspora in New Zealand: Identities and cultural representations. In Tracing the new Indian diaspora (pp. 121–136). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789401211710_008
Gaulee, U. (2014). Higher education in Nepal opportunities obscured by internal challenges. In T. Karunakaran (Ed.), English language teaching in the twenty first century: Issues and challenges (pp. 10–31). Kumran Book House Publishing.
Ghimire, B. (2019, March 1). As study abroad numbers rise, Nepali students land in trouble. University World News. https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20190301101826555
Giannoccolo, P. (2009). The brain drain: A survey of the literature (Working paper). Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Department of Statistics. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1374329
Gibson, J., & McKenzie, D. (2011). Eight questions about brain drain. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 25(3), 107–128. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.25.3.107
Glavan, B. (2008). Brain drain: A management or property problem. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 67(4), 719–738. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1536-7150.2008.00575.x
Goldin, I., Cameron, G., and andBalarajan, M. (2012). Exceptional people: How migration shaped our world and will define our future. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400836291
Goldin, I., & Reinert, K. (2007). Globalization for development: Trade, finance, aid, migration, and policy. The World Bank.
Hatton, T. J., & Williamson, J. G. (2005). Global migration and the world economy: Two centuries of policy and performance (Vol. 10). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Holger, D. (2002). Globalization, south north migration uneven development. New York: Oxford Publication.
Hunter, P. (2013). Brain drain, brain gain or brain sharing? New studies of the migration routes of scientists show that international mobility benefits all parties including countries that are net exporters of researchers. EMBO Reports, 14(4), 315–318. https://doi.org/10.1038/embor.2013.33
International Organization for Migration. (2003). World migration report 2003: Managing migration. New York: United Nations. https://publications.iom.int/books/world-migration-report-2003-managing-migration
Kamm, E., & Liebig, T. (2022). Retention and economic impact of international students in the OECD. In International migration outlook 2022. OECD Press. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/30fe16d2-en/1/3/7/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/30fe16d2-en&_csp_=97175d429ae5e4e04cd3cccbbfc84945&itemIGO=oecd&itemContentType=book#section-d1e46460
Kattel, R. M., & Sapkota, M. (2018). Brain drain of agriculture and veterinary graduates to abroad: evidence from Nepal. Agriculture & Food security, 7, Article 61. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-018-0213-1
King, R., & Ruiz‐Gelices, E. (2003). International student migration and the European ‘year abroad’: Effects on European identity and subsequent migration behaviour. International Journal of Population Geography, 9(3), 229–252. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijpg.280
Kunwar, L. S. (2015). Emigration of Nepalese people and its impact. Economic Journal of Development Issues, 19–20(1–2), 77–82.
Li, P. S. (2008). Immigration from China to Canada in the age of globalization: Issues of brain gain and brain loss. Pacific Affairs, 81(2), 217–239. https://doi.org/10.5509/2008812217
Maharjan, R. (2023). College adjustment among Bachelor students: Multidimensional relationship with home, health, emotion, social, and educational factors. The Batuk, 9(2), 76–89. https://doi.org/10.3126/batuk.v9i2.57036
Masud, M. M. H. (2020). International migration and polymedia: The use of communication media by Bangladeshi students in Germany. Research in Social Science and Technology, 5(3), 95–110. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.03.5
Meyer, M. (1997). The social process of international migration. New York: United Publication.
Meyer, J.-P., & Brown, M. (2003). Scientific diasporas: A new approach to the ‘brain drain’ in management of social transformations (UNESCO management of social transformations programme discussion paper 41). UNESCO.
Ngoma, L. A., & Ismail, W. N. (2013). The determinants of brain drain in developing countries. International Journal of Social Economics, 40(8), 744–754. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-05-2013-0109
Nguyen, V. T., Ho, D. B., Le, Q. C., & Nguyen, V. H. (2016). Strategic and transactional costs of corruption: Perspectives from Vietnamese firms. Crime, Law, and Social Change, 65(4), 351–374. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-016-9609-7
Okey, M. K. (2016). Corruption and emigration of physician from Africa. Journal of Economic Development, 41(2), 27–52. https://doi.org/10.35866/CAUJED.2016.41.2.002
Pant, B. (2006). Remittance inflows to Nepal: Economic impact and policy option. Economic Review, 18, 20–26. https://www.nrb.org.np/contents/uploads/2007/09/vol18_art2.pdf
Paul, J., & Benito, G. R. (2018). A review of research on outward foreign direct investment from emerging countries, including China: What do we know, how do we know and where should we be heading?. Asia Pacific Business Review, 24(1), 90–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602381.2017.1357316
Pokhrel, R. (2017). Medical education in Nepal and brain drain. Medical Journal of Shree Birendra Hospital, 16(1), 1–2. https://doi.org/10.3126/mjsbh.v16i1.18076
Romero, J. G. (2012). What circumstances lead a government to promote brain drain?. Journal of Economics, 108, 173–202. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00712-012-0272-x
Sahay, A. (2009). Indian diaspora in the United States: Brain drain or gain?. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Qiang, Z. (2003). Internationalization of higher education: Towards a conceptual framework. Policy Futures in Education, 1(2), 248–270. https://doi.org/10.2304%2Fpfie.2003.1.2.5
Robertson, R. (2004). The historical context and significance of globalization. Development and Change, 35(3), 557–565.
Rosenzweig, M. R., Irwin, D. A., & Williamson, J. G. (2006). Global wage differences and international student flows [with comments and discussion]. In Brookings trade forum (pp. 57–96). Brookings Institution Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25063205
Shrestha, B. (2008). Contribution of foreign employment and remittances to Nepalese economy (Economic review). Nepal Rastra Bank. https://www.nrb.org.np/contents/uploads/2021/09/vol20_art1.pdf
Thapa, B., & Shrestha, K. (2017). Factors influencing brain drain among Nepalese nurses. Kathmandu University Medical Journal, 57(1), 35–39. https://www.kumj.com.np/issue/57/35-39.pdf
TheGlobalEconomy.com (n.d.). Nepal: Human flight and brain drain. https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Nepal/human_flight_brain_drain_index/
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2020). International migration 2020 highlights (ST/ESA/SER.A/452). https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2020_international_migration_highlights.pdf
United Nations Development Programs. (2009). Human development report 2009: Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development. New York: UNDP. http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/269/hdr_2009_en_complete.pdf
Varghese, N. V. (2008). Globalization of higher education and cross-border student mobility. Paris: Unesco, International Institute for Educational Planning.
Wallerstein, I. (2011). The modern world-system I: Capitalist agriculture and the origins of the European world-economy in the sixteenth century, with a new prologue. University of California Press.
Weenink, D. (2008). Cosmopolitanism as a form of capital: Parents preparing their children for a globalizing world. Sociology, 42(6), 1089–1106. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038508096935
World Bank. (2006). Global economic prospects: Economic implications of remittances and migration. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/507301468142196936/pdf/343200GEP0 2006.pdf
Zheng, L., Westerhaus-Renfrow, C., Lin, S. Z., & Yang, Y. (2022). Assessing intercultural competence in the digital world: evidence from virtual exchange experience in a study abroad program. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 34(4), 418–441. https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v34i4.614
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 authors

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
