Advisory Committee Chair
Jeremy Hall
Advisory Committee Members
Donna M Handley
Michael Howell-Moroney
Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
2007
Degree Name by School
Master of Public Administration (MPA) College of Arts and Sciences
Abstract
Every year, thousands of skilled individuals leave their countries of origin and migrate to other more developed countries. The more developed and industrialized nations are increasingly competing to recruit highly skilled immigrants to meet labor shortages. Developing countries continue to lose their skilled professionals to developed countries like the U.S and the UK. The steady supply of skilled immigrants is important for developed economies because these immigrants bring skills that are in short supply, raise productivity and they help create additional jobs through entrepreneurship activities. Sending countries on the other hand may have a lot to gain in terms of growth, investment, human capital accumulation and poverty reduction. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: Chapter 2 attempts the jurisdictional impacts of skilled migration on both the source and the receiving countries and also from a global perspective. It discusses the pros and cons of skilled immigration from developing to the developed nations. Chapter 3 deals with the theories of migration while chapter 4 looks at the governing policies employed by the sending and the receiving countries. In Section 5, the paper reviews the immigration of Kenyan students and professionals in the U.S. It also highlights the immigration policy in the U.S and the impact of restrictive policies to the U.S. competitiveness. Chapter 6 looks at the methods iv and analysis. In this chapter, I make a conclusion that though Kenya suffers brain drain, it is relatively small compared to her population size. However, the impacts could be large a developing nation. Section 6 wraps up with recommendations, stipulating circular migration as the best option that will facilitate benefits to both the sending and the receiving countries. The conclusion emphasizes on the need to have comprehensive data collected from both developing and developed country for any informed migration decisions to be made and implemented.
Recommended Citation
Kamau, Polly W., "Brain Drain Or Brain Exchange? The Effect Of Skilled Migration On Sending And Receiving Countries: A Perspective Of Kenyans In The U.S." (2007). All ETDs from UAB. 3597.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/3597