Human Capital Flight: Impact and Challenges on Economy, A Case of Pakistan

Abstract

Migration of people from one place to another is a historical trend, creating connection and understanding among people of diverse cultural heritage. In the global market economy, the trend is increasingly taking footing especially and within the discourse of brain drain from global south to north. Pakistan is one of the countries plagued by the syndrome of human capital flight (HCF), as sizeable portion of its GDP is held by HCF. In this backdrop, the research seeks to analyze the pros and cons of human capital flight especially on GDP growth and income. The paper further revisits the theory of emigration and tries to discover whether or not there exist correlation and effect between human capital flight and government policy. Upon looking at existing literatures and collected data, the paper analyses the implications of human capital flight on the overall Pakistan economy growth and per capita income. It is found that workers’ foreign remittance significantly positive effected on the economic growth (GDP) and per capita income during the time line of study 1980 to 2011.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n1p43