Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/301068 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Citation: 
[Journal:] Journal of International Development [ISSN:] 1099-1328 [Volume:] 33 [Issue:] 7 [Publisher:] Wiley [Place:] Hoboken [Year:] 2021 [Pages:] 1112-1140
Publisher: 
Wiley, Hoboken
Abstract: 
Debates on the extent to which developing countries suffer from a brain drain often focus on the emigration of locally scarce health personnel. In this paper, we empirically examine how two potential determinants—aid for health and local income levels—affect the emigration rates of doctors and nurses from developing countries. Employing a standard gravity model of international migration, we show that aid for health has a negative effect on the emigration of both nurses and doctors. Our findings suggest that donors influence the emigration decisions of doctors and nurses through improvements in health infrastructure. Higher income per capita is also associated with lower emigration from developing countries for doctors and nurses alike. Given that nurses typically belong to the poorer segments of populations in the countries of origin, we can conclude that even at low initial income levels, on balance, economic growth provides an incentive to stay.
Subjects: 
aid
health
development
personnel
migration
JEL: 
F22
F35
O15
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version






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