Brain Drain Benefits to the USA Less Than They Could Be

Posted on August 22, 2007 7 Comments

Study Points to ‘Brain-Drain’ of Skilled U.S. Immigrant Entrepreneurs to Home Countries. I am not totally sure reverse brain drain is the proper term. It appears to me this is really saying the size of the brain drain, coming to the USA, is less than it could be (many brains that came are returning). Yes in some senses it is a brain drain from the USA but still…

In this study, “Intellectual Property, the Immigration Backlog, and a Reverse Brain-Drain,” researchers offer a more refined measure of this rise in contributions of foreign nationals to U.S. intellectual property and analyze the possible impact of the immigrant-visa backlog for skilled workers. The key finding from this research is that the number of skilled workers waiting for visas is significantly larger than the number that can be admitted to the United States. This imbalance creates the potential for a sizeable reverse brain-drain from the U.S. to the skilled workers’ home countries.

“These findings are important, highlighting the invaluable contribution of foreign nationals to our country’s technological and economic vitality,” said Duke Provost Peter Lange, the university’s top academic officer. “We know from our own experience here that students from China, India and other nations can play an outstanding role in advancing knowledge and creating new jobs, especially in cutting-edge fields.”

I don’t think this result is going to decrease. And I believe the actual loss of scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs born in the USA for significant portions of their careers to other countries will increase dramatically over the next 25 years. I agree that it is in the interests of the USA to try and retain the ‘Brain Drain’ advantages it has been receiving.

Related: Science and Engineering in Global Economics – USA Losing Brain Drain Benefits – Science Gap and Economic Consequences – Economy, Science and Diplomacy – The Future is Engineering

7 thoughts on “Brain Drain Benefits to the USA Less Than They Could Be”

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  5. Anonymous

    I think you will find this problem exists everywhere today. I have a friend in Europe who keeps complaining about the lack of “talent”. In the workforce this really sucks, since those who have the talent seem to end up working harder and harder.

    I’m not sure whether the government will actually be successful in luring these people back since the grass is always greener on the other side.

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  7. Anonymous

    From my observation, young people today do not want to learn new skills. They want to be like their start : make tons of money doing almost nothing. I say China will take over as superpower, they have a lot of people and it looks like they have fixed their education system.

    Konnichiwa!

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