TY - JOUR
T1 - The internal brain drain: foreign aid, hiring practices, and international migration
AU - Lemay-Hebert, Nicolas
AU - Marcelin, Louis Herns
AU - Pallage, Stephane
AU - Cela, Toni
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Building on empirical material gathered in Haiti, this paper advances a new and innovative understanding of the internal brain drain phenomenon—the poaching of local skilled workers by international organisations (IOs) or international non-governmental organisations (INGOs)— by conceptualising it as an equilibrium. This equilibrium is composed of two sets of tensions: (i) those between the salary conditions in the public sector and those on offer to local personnel working for IOs and INGOs; and (ii) those inherent in the dual salary scale used by IOs and INGOs for local and international staff. These two sets of tensions contribute in their specific ways to international migration, and, as such, the internal brain drain has a bearing on external brain drain dynamics. In addition, the paper addresses the difficult policy choices facing development and humanitarian organisations, since every set of policies that impacts on one side of the equilibrium is bound to affect its other side.
AB - Building on empirical material gathered in Haiti, this paper advances a new and innovative understanding of the internal brain drain phenomenon—the poaching of local skilled workers by international organisations (IOs) or international non-governmental organisations (INGOs)— by conceptualising it as an equilibrium. This equilibrium is composed of two sets of tensions: (i) those between the salary conditions in the public sector and those on offer to local personnel working for IOs and INGOs; and (ii) those inherent in the dual salary scale used by IOs and INGOs for local and international staff. These two sets of tensions contribute in their specific ways to international migration, and, as such, the internal brain drain has a bearing on external brain drain dynamics. In addition, the paper addresses the difficult policy choices facing development and humanitarian organisations, since every set of policies that impacts on one side of the equilibrium is bound to affect its other side.
U2 - 10.1111/disa.12382
DO - 10.1111/disa.12382
M3 - Article
SN - 0361-3666
VL - 44
SP - 621
EP - 640
JO - Disasters
JF - Disasters
IS - 4
ER -