On the-job training as a cause of brain drain

Abstract

On-the-Job Training as a Cause of Brain Drain. —This paper presents a simple model based on the assertion that the efficacy of on-the-job training, as well as the productivity of skills, depends on the social stock of capital. It shows that as the degree of this dependency of on-the-job training upon capital stock increases, the problem of brain drain becomes more severe and more difficult to correct. The model may explain why the failure of foreign-educated students to repatriate is a more prevalent form of brain drain than outright migration of skilled labor. It is consistent with the repatriation pattern of Taiwanese students who received post-secondary education in Japan.