Brain Drain

Abstract

Brain drain refers to the large‐scale movement of professionals across borders that results in net losses for source countries and has global distributional consequences. It raises a particularly acute set of challenges for liberal theorists. Liberals seek to protect our interest in autonomy, and value freedom of movement and freedom of occupational choice. At the same time, liberals are worried about securing essential social justice goods for vulnerable populations – goods that provide the social conditions of their autonomy. Is it ever permissible for the liberal state to interfere with the autonomy of migrant professionals in order to supply essential goods? This entry examines the ethical challenges of brain drain from three normative perspectives. What duties do destination countries have to further solutions to the brain drain problem? Do individual migrants have moral responsibilities toward their country of training or origin? What may source countries legitimately do to counteract the negative effects of brain drain? We discuss the different moral grounds of responsibilities to counteract the deleterious effects of brain drain, and elaborate the ethical requirements and permissible policy measures that follow