Research On China’s Brain Drain Affecting Economic Growth

Since 1960, the number of global migrants has increased from 74 million to 200 million, and the growing number of people has migrated from developing countries to developed countries. At the same time, the proportion of educated migrants also significantly increased. The accelerated migration of highly skilled professionals from developing to developed countries made brain drain become a major concern in developing countries. The economic and social effects triggered by brain drain have received much attention from international organizations, governments and scholars, including the United Nations and the World Bank. China as a big developing country, its size of brain drain can not be ignored. After the accession to the WTO, the facility of factor mobility between countries was enhanced. The brain drain phenomenon was more pronounced. In this context, the research of China’s brain drain affecting economic growth at the direction and mechanism of action has important theoretical and practical significance.Given the realities of brain drain in China, there are two feasibility ideas about exploring the impact of brain drain on economic growth. On one hand, from the vertical time dimension, the notable differences of Chinese intellect outflow level exist in different periods, then the effect of brain drain on economic growth will show a stage characteristics; On the other hand, from the horizontal regional differences perspective, there is a significant difference in the level of economic development of different regions in China, then the effect of brain drain on economic growth will have regional differences. This paper studies the effect path and direction of action of China’s brain drain on economic growth, combining the stage characteristics in the dimension of time with regional difference effects analysis. The specific research framework:Chapter 1 indicates the background and significance of the research on the basis of defined brain drain, and elaborate research ideas and innovations; Chapter 2 reviews the relevant research literatures at home and abroad and sorts out them; The third chapter tests the stage characteristics effect of brain drain on Chinese economic growth based on provincial panel data of over the period 2001-2011; Chapter 4 conducts further test about regional differences of brain drain’s economic effects; In Chapter 5, conclusions and policy recommendations are made.This paper explains the direction of the impact of China’s brain drain on economic growth, the mechanism of action and role characteristics. Some conclusions are drawn:from the time dimension, the economic effects of brain drain in China present differentiated features in the different development stages. It’s negative effect in the 1992-2000, however, the human capital enhancement effect by education incentives is significantly positive; in 2001-2011, productivity gains lead by intelligence return and education incentive effects contribute to the formation of beneficial brain drain; From the space dimension, China’s brain drain significantly improves domestic economic growth by excitation mechanism of the formation and accumulation of human capital; the marginal utility of human capital excitation mechanism is bigger in inland less developed regions, however, the effect of human capital on economic growth is better in coastal developed regions. All in all, the influence of brain drain on economic growth is more powerful; by introducing the interaction term, we also find that the economic effect of brain drain increases with the expansion of the scale of intelligence flow by human capital excitation mechanism. This paper will lead to further thinking about China’s optimal level of brain drain. It provides a reference for the study of "development threshold" in the appearance process of beneficial brain drain.