Tackling Brain Drain through Laws and Good Governance to Support Economic Development

Abstract

We are in a free world where freedom of movement is guaranteed. Even though freedom of movement is a fundamentally important freedom that everybody wants to have, unrestricted migration hurts economic growth; which is a powerful instrument to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life. This however is possible only with skilled human powers that migrate from place to place most of the time. Brain drain is very high in developing countries as skilled workforces migrate in search of better jobs in high-income countries. Ethiopia is not different from the above fact which resulted either from unrestricted free movement or the inexistence of good governance/political persecution. By emigrating qualified staff, the home state can no longer benefit from the results of investing in the training and qualification of human resources; the cost of which is an expense that it no longer recovers. Most of the time, migrant workers carry out activities that are inconsistent with their profession; since they are compelled; if not by force, by situation to accept jobs that are inferior to their profession. This results in profession discontinuity and loss of skills gained through practice; which negatively impacts the profession financed and time spent on learning a profession unutilized due to allowed migration. This urges the enactment of restrictive laws on migration that result in brain drain in the home country on one hand, and demands good governance on the other hand to tackle brain drain caused due to maladministration and bad governance. The finding claims brain drain affects the economy of sending countries, and restricting free movement and outlawing skilled labor is the best option for sending countries including Ethiopia to support their economic development with skilled manpower.