Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2004): Journal of Higher Education in Africa

3 - Human Capital Flight: Stratification, Globalization, and the Challenges to Tertiary Education in Africa1

https://doi.org/10.57054/jhea.v2i1.3618
Benno J. Ndulu

Corresponding Author(s) : Benno J. Ndulu

Bndulu@Worldbank.org

Journal of Higher Education in Africa, Vol. 2 No. 1 (2004): Journal of Higher Education in Africa

Abstract

Development efforts in Africa are greatly hampered by the flight of both finan- cial capital and by human capital (brain drain). Even those professionals who remain frequently engage in less-skilled occupations because of weak national economies. The historic “push” factors of economic and demographic pres- sures are currently intensified by globalization, movement toward a knowledge-based economy, and global demographic trends. Given that a con- tinuation of fast-paced loss of the region’s talent is likely to continue for some time, the author urges the adoption of
strategies to enhance the capacity of African nations for training, retaining skilled manpower, and reversing some brain drain. Tertiary education institutions are evolving to fill the quantity and quality deficiencies in the region, including the emergence of global educa- tion, new global knowledge-sharing mechanisms, information technology, net- working, and parallel systems such as independent certification and knowl- edge intermediaries. The article concludes with several
recommendations for squarely addressing the underlying push factors toward emigration.

Keywords

Tertiary Education Migration underpinnings migrants
Benno J. Ndulu. (2004). 3 - Human Capital Flight: Stratification, Globalization, and the Challenges to Tertiary Education in Africa1. Journal of Higher Education in Africa, 2(1), 57–91. https://doi.org/10.57054/jhea.v2i1.3618
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX
References
  1. Apraku, K. K. (1991). African Emigrés in the United States: A Missing Link in Africa’s Social and Economic Development. New York: Praeger.
  2. Bhagwati, J. N., & Hamada, K. (1974). The brain drain, international integration of markets for professionals and unemployment: A theoretical analysis. Journal of Development Economics, 1(1), 19-42.
  3. Barr, N. (1998, December). Market Forces and Education. Report of a presentation made at the World Bank.
  4. Barro, R. J. (1998, October). Human Capital and Growth in Cross Country Regressions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.
  5. Barro, R. J., & Jong-Wha, L. (1993). International comparison of educational attainment. Journal of Monetary Economics, 32, 363-94.
  6. Beine, M., Docquier, F., & Rapoport, H. (1997). Brain drain and economic development: Theory and Evidence. Journal of Economic Literature, 64, 275-289.
  7. Borensztein, E., DeGregorio, J., & Lee, J-W. (1998). How does foreign direct investment affect economic growth? Journal of International Economics, 45, 115-135.
  8. Brundenius, C. (1996). How painful is the transition? Reflections on patterns of economic growth, long waves and the ICT revolution. In M. Lundhal & B. J. Ndulu, New Directions in development economics: Growth, environmental concerns, and
  9. government in the 1990s. London: Routledge.
  10. Carrington, W. J., & Detragiache, E. (1998). How big is the brain drain? (IMF Working Paper, No. 102.) Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
  11. Collier, P., Hoeffler, A., & Patillo, C. (1999). Flight capital as a portfolio choice (Policy Research Working Paper 2066). Washington, DC: World Bank.
  12. Court, D. (2001). Financing Higher Education in Africa: Makerere, the Quiet revolution. Mimeo. Washington, DC: World Bank.
  13. Docquier, R. N., & Rapoport, H. (1997, September). La fuite des cerveaux: Une chance pour les pays en developpement? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the French Economic Association, Paris, France.
  14. Eatwell, J., Milgate, M., & Newmann, P. (1996). New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics (p. 2,682). London: MacMillan Press.
  15. Findlay, R. (1978). Relative backwardness, direct foreign investment, and the transfer of technology: A simple dynamic model. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 92, 1-16.
  16. Galor, O., & Tsiddon, D. (1997). The distribution of human capital and economic growth.
  17. Journal of Economic Growth, 2(1), 93-124.
  18. Hanushek, E., & Kim, D. (1995, September). Schooling, labor force quality, and economic growth (Working Paper No. 411). Rochester Center for Economic Research.
  19. Haque, U. N., & Aziz, J. (1998). The quality of governance: “Second generation” civil service reform in Africa. (IMF Working Paper, No. 164). Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
  20. Haque, U. N., & Khan, A. (1997). Institutional development: Skill transference through a reversal of “human capital flight” or technical assistance. (IMF Working Paper, No. 89.) Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
  21. Haque, U. N., & Kim, S.-J. (1995). Human capital flight: Impact of migration on income and growth. IMF Staff Papers, 42(3), 377-607.
  22. Hatton, T. J., & Williamson, J. G. (2000, May). Out of Africa? Using the past to project future African demand for emigration. Paper presented at a conference on Globalization: Trade, Financial and Political Economy Aspects, Delphi, Greece.
  23. Heller, P., & Tait, A. (1984). Government employment and pay: International comparisons. (IMF Occasional Papers, No. 24.) Washington DC: International Monetary Fund.
  24. Integrated Regional Information Networks (2001). Southern Africa: New initiative to tackle brain drain: A bulletin. Retrieved October 2001 from www.queensu.ca/samp/publications/ pressarticles/2001/tackle.htm.
  25. International Organization for Migration (2000, October). Migration in Africa: Globalization and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: 10M.
  26. Lindbaek, J. (1997, October). Emerging economies: How long will the low-wage advantage last? Background paper for a speech by IFC Executive Vice President at the APPI Meeting, Helsinki, Finland.
  27. Miyagiwa, K. (1991). Scale economies in education and the brain drain problem. International Economic Review, 32(3), 743-759.
  28. Mountford, A. (1997). Can brain drain be good for growth in the source economy? Journal of Development Economics, 53(2), 287-303.
  29. Ndulu, B. J. (1996). Africa’s new realities challenge policy institutes. Building Democratic Institutions through Market-oriented Reforms. Center for International Private Enterprise, Report No. 3, 1996. Washington DC: CIPE.
  30. Ndulu, B. J. (2001, August). From vision to reality of African economic integration: Priority actions and the institutional framework for the way forward. Paper presented to the Conference of the Association of African Central Banks,
  31. Johannesburg, South Africa.
  32. OED (1994). The World Bank’s role in human resource development in sub-Saharan Africa: Education. training and technical assistance. (Sector Study No. 13449). Washington, DC: World Bank.
  33. Oyowe, A. (1996). Brain drain: Colossal loss of investment for developing countries.
  34. Europe’s Forum on International Cooperation. Article No. 159.
  35. Piketty, T. (1997). Immigration et justice sociale. Revue Economique, 48(5), 1291-1309.
  36. Pires, M. J., Kassimir, R., & Brhane, M. (1999). Investing in return: Rates of return of African Ph.D.s trained in North America. New York: Social Science Research Council.
  37. Prewitt, K. (2001, October). Higher education, society and government: Changing dynamics. Paper for Yale Center for International and Area Studies, African Studies and Economic Growth Center Conference on International Higher Education and African Development, New Haven, CT; also published in this issue.
  38. Russell, S. (1998). Migrants, remittances, and development. International Migration: Quarterly Review, 30, 267-287.
  39. United Nations Commission for Trade and Development. (1999). Trade and Development Report. Geneva, Switzerland: UNCTD.
  40. United Nations Development Program (1992). Human Development Report. New York: United Nations.
  41. United Nations High Commission on Refugees (2001). A bulletin: Key findings, refugees and migration. New York: United Nations.
  42. Vidal, J. P. (1998). The effect of emigration on human capital formation. Journal of Population Economics, 11(4), 589-600.
  43. Zeleza, P. T. (1998). African labor and intellectual migrations to the north: Building new transatlantic bridges. Urbana: Center for the Studies of African Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Read More

Author Biography

Benno J. Ndulu

Benno J. Ndulu is Sector Lead Specialist for Macro Economics, World Bank, P. O. Box 2054, Dar
es Salaam, Tanzania; e-mail: Bndulu@Worldbank.org.

Download
PDF
Statistic
Read Counter : 1067 Download : 138