Integrated assessment of the attractiveness of the EU for intellectual immigrants: A taxonomy-based approach

Abstract

This study proposes a method to comprehensively assess the factors that attract intellectual migrants to certain countries. The authors propose a system of pull factors that characterise the attractiveness of living conditions, intellectual employment, research and professional development to potential migrants. Evaluation of its impact on the main indicator of the attractiveness of countries for intellectual migrants (‘brain gain’ in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index) was conducted using the example of EU countries. To this end, the authors developed a two-stage evaluation procedure, which combines correlation and taxonomic analysis methods. The system of indicators formed was used to make an integrated assessment of the attractiveness of countries based on taxonomic analysis. This assessment helped identify the group of countries (Luxembourg, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands) with the highest migration attractiveness in the EU. The proposed methodology allows us to group countries by the level of their attractiveness for intellectual migrants and assess the possibilities of regulating the institutional environment of migration processes.