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This paper seeks to address two research questions: first, to what extent do highly skilled migrants intend to make personal business and financial investments in their home countries, and second, what factors influence them to invest in their home countries?

The results are based on face‐to‐face and telephone interviews which took place between September, 2008 and March, 2009 with 64 highly skilled British migrants working in Vancouver, Canada. Respondents were asked a combination of open‐ and closed‐ended questions.

The results of this study find that the vast majority of respondents are not investing in or intending to return to their home country, which indicates that they contributing to brain circulation in a limited extent.

The paper argues that governments and organisations in the home country can play an important role in facilitating brain circulation in Europe.

Much of the academic literature suggests that the brain drain has now transformed into brain gain. The findings of this study do not support this shift because most of the sample of British expatriates in Vancouver are not intending to invest in or return to Europe. This is significant because highly skilled migrants could be better utilised as resources by European governments and organisations.

The quintuple helix innovation model allows exploring the sustainable development of countries from the perspective of the capabilities that each of them possesses in terms of highly qualified personnel in science and technology. In addition, their distribution among the actors (helices) and the global mobility of this type of people are examined. The purpose of this paper is to dimension and characterise the research structures of the central, emerging and peripheral countries; to estimate the demand and mobility of scientists and technologists in the three selected countries; and to establish whether the concept of brain circulation applies to each of these types of countries.

The approach of the work is bibliometric and scientometric. In the first step, two theoretical frameworks were built. In the second step, indicators to measure the overall migration were developed and identified. In the third step, data from previous research were used, and data from Peru were added using the same methodology to be able to compare the three types of countries.

The study shows that the same terminology cannot be used globally to analyse the mobility of scientists in today’s world, despite technological advances because there is no critical mass in peripheral countries.

This study shows that the concept of brain circulation cannot be applied equally to all countries, because those that do not have critical mass lose capabilities, despite the existence of information and communication technologies.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the current role of foreign foundations in the cross-border mobility of Russian elite scientists.

The methodology is based on a combination of a quantitative survey (December 2004-February 2005) of former Russian Humboldtians and qualitative research (expert interviews in 2005 and in 2012, respectively) of Russian alumni of the Alexander von Humboldt foundation (Germany).

For Russian elite researchers participating in academic mobility, in 2000s it is rather cross-border mobility’ brain circulation’ rather than “brain drain” a dominant form of academic mobility typical. Even in 2000s, western foundations still played a significant while twofold role – promoting emigration of for a small part of Russian elite researchers, on the one hand, while and getting access to top-level labs, etc. and to international academic chains of excellence for the majority of them, on the other. Coming back to the home country, affiliation with foreign foundations reduces the dependence of Russian elite researchers on hierarchical structures within the national state science system and promotes project teams and network forms of interaction their career. However, Russian scientists dependence on foreign funding affect both the scope of research and their academic status (mostly – second-level positions within research projects, etc.). Among the reasons to for leave leaving Russia it is primarily the desire to remain have closer access to their academic community and the equipment to do on the top level in research. The paper formulates some measures to foster incentives to stay in Russia and respectively to support re-emigration of elite researchers, in form of world class research labs and strengthening the motivation of senior researchers to work in the home country.

Research limitations consist in using of only one of the alumni networks of several western foundations database.

The paper is unique as regards the empirical results; its value consists in their organizational, social and political implications.

This paper examines the drivers of brain gain by investigating the motivations of migrants who plan to return and contribute to their home country. It focuses on highly skilled Sudanese migrants in Japan, including a group of “plan-to-return” migrants (P-group), who intend to gain knowledge abroad that they will use to contribute to their homeland upon their return.

The participants are 24 highly skilled Sudanese migrants in Japan, 10 of whom are part of the P-group. To understand their motivation to contribute to their home country, the study applies the qualitative life course approach, using Elder's four life course themes: lives in time and space, the timing of lives, linked lives and human agency.

The P-group is characterised by a high level of motivation for self-development, which motivates them to study abroad. The analysis finds that the P-group's drive to contribute had been nurtured by a spirit of mutual aid in Sudanese society, which emphasises Islamic values and social ties. Religious norms, personal interactions and emotional ties to Sudan are especially influential on the P-group's motivation to contribute to their home society.

This study identifies drivers that lead to brain gain. Whereas previous studies have noted the relationship between return intentions and willingness to contribute to the home countries; they have not investigated influences on motivations to contribute. The results suggest that Sudan might already possess a system for local human resource development to encourage brain gain.

The purpose of this paper is to study the migration of the Indian diaspora to Canada and the USA and its role in fostering trade and investment between them using its transnational social networks.

This study was based on interviews with 25 Indian immigrants, 13 in Canada and 12 in the USA.

The social networks that immigrants had in both their country of residence (COR) and country of origin (COO) act as conduits of trade and investment between the two. The Indian diaspora further facilitates economic engagement between the COO and COR by running cross‐border businesses, introducing Indian products and brands in the COR, introducing the Indian culture and helping non‐Indians to invest in India. Within the COO, the diaspora's social networks often helped Indians in India connect with markets, suppliers and potential business partners in the COR.

The sample size was 25 people and was restricted to managers, executives and entrepreneurs of Indian origin, since it was assumed that these people are the most likely to drive trade and investment between the COO and COR.

For policy makers in COOs, the paper stresses the importance of maintaining social and economic ties to the diaspora, who can often bring important trade and investment related benefits to the COO. For CORs, the paper reveals the importance of utilizing the transnational networks that the diaspora possess, that can be beneficial for the COR companies in entering new markets. Leveraging both the human and social capital of the diaspora in a mutually beneficial way is one of the biggest challenges for policy makers in both the COO and the COR.

The paper shows that within the COR, the local Indian community provides social and moral, rather than financial support to newly arrived Indian immigrants.

The paper explains the linkage between diasporas, trade and migration by focusing on the reasons for diaspora immigration, the social networks that the diaspora has, and the diaspora activities in the COR. It contributes to the literature on social networks by pointing out the importance of the diaspora's transnational social networks in both the COR and COO in driving trade and investment between them. It also adds to the brain circulation literature through its finding that pull factors, rather than push factors, were responsible for the vast majority of Indian immigration to the USA and Canada, and that by making diaspora‐friendly policies, brain circulation will be made easier, and this can help both the COO and COR in the long run.

Over the last few decades, internationalization has become one of the major aspects of many universities’ development agenda. Such internationalization initiatives as study abroad and dual degree programs create greater academic mobility; however, they frequently present a risk of potential brain drain. Brain drain is commonly defined as the emigration of well-educated and skilled individuals from their home to another country, with less developed countries suffering from this phenomenon to a greater extent. Higher education institutions and national governments across the world have been trying to retain these individuals through improving the system of higher education, and increasing job advancement and research opportunities. This chapter examines the phenomenon of brain drain as well as its current trends and implications in the higher education sector. It pays particular attention to the case of Russia with its increased emigration of highly educated and skilled professionals over the last two decades, while also drawing on examples from other countries’ policies and practices. The chapter explores different programs and initiatives introduced on institutional and governmental levels to address the issue of brain drain in the context of internationalization of higher education.

Diasporas can play a vital role in enhancing a country's international competitiveness. They can act as catalysts to enhance human capital development in their country of origin (COO), use their transnational social networks in both the COO and country of residence (COR) as conduits for trade and investment, introduce COO culture and products in the COR, enhance the COO's soft power and use their social networks to favourably affect the COO effect. In this paper, we examine the vital roles that modern diasporas play, as well as the issues that have led to their increasing importance. These issues are illustrated by looking at the experiences of two of the largest modern diasporas, the Chinese and Indian diasporas. The paper concludes by examining some of the emerging issues for diasporas in the fast changing current global environment, and discusses some of their implications for the diasporas themselves, their COOs and their CORs.

The purpose of this paper is to explore multiple cases of Moldovan women who individually initiated and involved in work arrangements with Italian employers. The main purpose is to examine the international employment experiences of female migrants by identifying the challenges they face in a foreign country and building a comprehensive typology of female migrant workers.

The empirical work consists of field notes gathered through direct observations and semi‐structured interviews conducted with five Moldovan women while they were still working in Italy. The content analysis of the interviews reveals how Moldovan workers perceive their foreign experience and the ways it influences their personal development.

The paper suggests that such brain mobility concepts as brain drain, brain waste and optimal brain drain represent the distinguishing characteristics of our interviewees who are citizens of a transitional economy. Imaginary trip, frustrating encounter, identity consolidation and self‐actualization are identified as four consecutive stages through which the self‐initiated migration experience develops over the time. The resulting variations in migrants' behaviours and mind‐sets create a typology of female workers based on their desperateness to migrate (planner vs despairer), their failure to tolerate the frustrating encounter (surrenderer), their attitudes towards personal development (conformist vs rejuvenator) and their ability to transcend their own limitations (highflyer). The paper describes the double identity strangeness along with other aspects which differentiate self‐initiated experiences from expatriate assignments.

The use of a limited number of case studies prevents concluding whether and to what extent the findings apply to all female migrant workers from other transitional economies. This limitation could be clarified in a future study on larger samples of female respondents involved in self‐initiated employment arrangements in Italy or in other developed countries.

At the organizational level, the findings allow employers and human resource managers in the destination country to distinguish different types of migrant workers and better understand their particular needs in order to facilitate their intra‐firm integration.

Using a gender analysis highlighted in the international migration literature, this research makes a contribution towards creating a solid knowledge base on Moldovan migrant women – a widely underexplored group of migrant workers – and their involvement in labour market processes in Italy.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, it intends to engage in skill gain–lose debate in the contemporary global skill mobility context; and second, it looks into whether Southeast Asia (SEA) is losing by experiencing skill deficiency due to over outflow of talents.

Primary data were collected through interviews with policy makers, stakeholder and migrant professionals from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The paper comes up with the brain drain dynamics to better understand the trajectory of skill mobility in and from SEA. Within the skill mobility discourse, it is undoubtedly difficult to conclude who are the losers and the gainers in the long run.

This research is based on relatively small sample. However, this offers a fresh insight into the skill deficiency dynamics in Southeast Asia.

The purpose of this paper is to study brain drain as a social problem and elaborate a five‐dimensional social justice model as the main cause of brain drain. The paper explores the effects of distributional justice, emotional justice, procedural justice, transactional justice, and informational justice on brain drain intention.

The method of research is survey method. This research is functional in terms of target and is descriptive. Moreover, the research is a field study from the information gathering perspective; and from the aspect of relationship between variables, it has casual type.

The results of this study demonstrate that justice is a critical issue among the scientific elites of Iranian society. This study demonstrates the existence of a negative relationship between social justice and intention to emigrate (brain drain) in Iran.

Despite the lack of precise statistical information in this area, the paper seeks to critically analyze the brain drain phenomenon in Iran. The use of questionnaire meant that more in‐depth analysis was not possible to obtain.

It is important to prevent elite emigration, particularly since elites represent vital cultural, social, and economic capital. In relation to informational justice, which is not likely to act as a single cause of brain drain but acts in concert with other factors, it should be recalled that communication plays a vital role.

Surprisingly, no empirical research has yet been done in Iran to examine possible relationship between occurrence and/or the rate of the talent flow and social justice.