brain gain

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the acquisition by a destination country of skilled and educated workers from abroad through immigration, increasing its human capital endowment; from the perspective of destination countries, brain gain contributes to innovation, fills gaps in high-skill labour markets, and contributes to economic growth; the concept also applies to origin countries in contexts where emigration prospects incentivise additional investment in education, some emigrants return with enhanced skills, and diaspora networks channel knowledge and investment back to the homeland — a dynamic sometimes called brain circulation; the framing of migration as brain gain for destination countries and brain drain for origins reflects the asymmetry of the global knowledge economy, in which the benefits of skilled migration accrue disproportionately to already wealthy countries