The implications of financing higher education in the context of labour force migration: The case of Lithuania

Abstract

Abstract This paper aims at presenting a conceptually new model of labour force migration in relation to the higher education policy making and the role of the Government in this process. The concept of human capital development stands out as the main theoretical backbone in this paper, comprising the aspects of financing the higher education and any realities, of how educated specialists could return (if at all) the Government's subsidies provided in their education process, especially in case of their migration to foreign countries. As Lithuania, alongside with other new EU member‐states, such as Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia etc, experiences a ‘brain‐drain’ effect on its labour force market, which, consequently, has a crucial impact on the equilibrium of skilled and unskilled workforce in the listed countries. Therefore the authors raise a question, whether the labour force migration process could be managed, controlled or monitored?