The Mobility of Students and the Highly Skilled

Abstract

Analyses of the interrelated mobility of students and the highly skilled that consider its implications for fiscal policy, higher education financing, and economic development. The mobility of students in developed countries has dramatically increased over the last fifty years. Students do not necessarily remain in their countries of origin for higher education and work; they might be born in one country, attend university in a second, and find employment in a third. In this book, contributors from Europe, North America, and Australia examine the interrelated mobility of university students and the highly skilled, and its consequences—in the country of origin, in the host country during studies, and in the work destination country—for fiscal policies, the financing of higher education, and economic growth. Taking a variety of approaches, including formal modeling and econometric analysis, the contributors first examine evidence of the interrelationship between the mobility of students and graduates, especially researchers; investigate free-riding problems associated with mobility, including the provision and funding of public higher education; and address the effects of education policy on human capital accumulation and economic development, offering recommendations for well-designed policies in the presence of migration of talents. Contributors Nicholas Barr, Elena Del Rey, Susana Elena-Pérez, Gabriel J. Felbermayr, Ana Fernandez-Zubieta, Luisa Gagliardi, Marcel Gérard, Alexander Haupt, Tim Krieger, Thomas Lange, Elisabetta Marinelli, Richard Murphy, María Racionero, Isabella Reczkowski, Silke Uebelmesser, Linda van Bouwel, Reinhilde Veugelers, David E. Wildasin