BRAIN DRAIN IN TURKEY: AN INVESTIGATION ON THE LEADING MOTIVES OF SKILLED MIGRATION

Migration has recently gained importance in emerging economies. This study is mainly elaborated on international movements of skilled labor in Turkey. In this study movements of the skilled human capital, which takes a role as a factor of production in understanding the different levels of prosperity and income among countries in the new growth theories, has been discussed with the scope of the “brain drain”. As an integral part of international migration, the brain drain originated from the developing countries leads to deterioration in the source economy while high-skilled immigrants improve productivity and innovation in the destination country. A sample of 148 Turkish citizens with tertiary education residing abroad is chosen to conduct a survey about the underlying motives for leaving the origin country and choosing the destination country. After the detailed descriptive analysis of the cross-sectional survey data, the push and pull factors in the light of “stay” or “go” decision are discussed.

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