We must have grip of what it means before we provide the right answer to the question of what are the disadvantages of brain drain? Particularly, we have to look at the common causes of this phenomenon which in the long run has proven deleterious to the health of any nation including Nigeria.
Brain drain, also known as human capital flight, is the emptiness process which any country or nation experiences in terms of the numerical reduction of her professionals in various sectors and fields of human growth and concerns. It is quite unfortunate that many third-world countries are victims of this anti-economic prey!
Human capital flight is the emigration or immigration of individuals who have received advanced training at home. The net benefits of human capital flight for the receiving country are sometimes referred to as a “brain gain” whereas the net costs for the sending country are sometimes referred to as a “brain drain“.
What are the Disadvantages of Brain Drain?
While having serious economic impact on the governments, brain drain often leaves a hole that is hard to fill since there may not be as many people with similar skills to fill that void. It also leads to a loss in tax revenue, which can lead to higher taxation to make up for the shortfall.
It is time we looked into what and what are the disadvantages of brain drain in Nigeria or anywhere in the world where it is a common plague:
Loss of Income Tax
A loss of tax revenues for the source countries which minimizes the potential for public spending. Young workers aged 25-60 make the biggest contribution to a nation’s finances because they pay income tax, but don’t receive pensions or education spending.
Baltic countries with large net emigration are forecast to see a rise in dependency ratio – the number of pensioners to the working-age population.
Fall in Productivity
A shortage of skilled labor can push up wages faster than productivity. Remittances sent home can also cause appreciation in the exchange rate. Remittances can also lead to lower labor supply as those who receive remittances have less incentive to work for a low hourly wage.
Read Also: Benefits of Brain Drain in Nigerian Economy
Low Increase in Entrepreneurs
Those who emigrate tend to be the ablest and willing to take risks. Migrants are potential entrepreneurs who, if they stayed in the country of origin, might set up a business which would contribute to economic growth and create employment
Professional Skills Drain
Waves of substantial emigration can induce shortages of manpower for source countries in key sectors such as education or health. It is often skilled workers (nurses, doctors, engineers who find it easiest to emigrate to countries with higher incomes).
This can leave the original country short of workers. According to economists, the loss of skilled workers is a significant problem in many economies. Particularly, conducted polls of Nigerian medical students show that 80-90% plan to emigrate after graduating.
Proliferation of Political Corruption
If young skilled workers emigrate, it can have an effect on political and social institutions – with a lower representation of young, aspirational graduates in political institutions.
According to IMF “Control of corruption, voice and accountability, rule of law, and government, effectiveness indicators are currently all notably weaker in SEE countries, which also faced larger outflows of better-educated people in earlier years than CE-5 and Baltic countries.”
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