Brain gain and country's resilience: A dependency analysis exemplified by OECD countries

Abstract

Research background: In the light of growing demand for highly skilled workers, driven by rapid changes in the labour market and business environment, the ability to attract the talented determines not only business performance, but also macroeconomic development prospects. This stimulates national governments to create positive conditions for the development and use of the human capital of migrants. One of the most important factors of brain gain can be country stability as a sign of a comfortable environment for the realisation of intellectual potential. Purpose of the article: The study aims to investigate the links between the factors of country’s resilience and brain gain, including its partial indicators. Methods: For a comprehensive assessment, migration indicators were used by categories of talented migrants: highly educated workers, foreign entrepreneurs, university students and start-up founders that we integrated into an integral index of intellectual migration. The data was collected for OECD countries for 2023. The authors used the methods of statistical and correlation-regression analysis, economic-mathematical modelling in the GRETL software environment. Findings & value added: Research has shown that the components of country’s resilience (especially Economic resilience and Supply chain) have a positive effect on brain gain. Considering the partial indicators of brain gain, it is found that resilience in the country of destination has the greatest influence on the migration decisions of highly educated workers and foreign entrepreneurs, i.e. migrants with a positive experience of economic activity and entrepreneurial capital, which, in turn, strengthens the resilience and competitiveness of countries. Such conclusions are important for the improvement of brain gain management programs in terms of the development of the environment for the attraction and retention of talents.