Female Brain Drains and Women's Rights Gaps: A Gravity Model Analysis of Bilateral Migration Flows

48 Pages Posted: 21 Dec 2012 Last revised: 15 Mar 2014

See all articles by Maryam Naghsh Nejad

Maryam Naghsh Nejad

IZA Institute of Labor Economics; University of Technology Sydney (UTS)

Andrew T. Young

Texas Tech University - Rawls College of Business

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: March 15, 2014

Abstract

In this paper we model the migration decisions of high-skilled women as a function of the benefits associated with moving from an origin with relatively low women´s rights to a destination with a relatively high women´s rights. However, the costs faced by women are decreasing in the level of women´s rights provided. The model predicts a non-linear relationship between the relative levels of women’s rights in destination versus origin countries (the women’s rights gap) and the gender gap in high-skilled migration flows (the female brain drain ratio). In particular, starting from large values of the women´s rights gap (where women´s rights are very low in the origin) decreases in the gap may be associated with increases in the female brain drain ratio. However, starting from lower levels of the gap the relationship is positive: a greater gain in women´s rights moving from origin to destination is, all else equal, associated with a greater likelihood of migration. Using a cross section of over 3,000 bilateral migration flows across OECD and non-OECD countries and the women’s rights indices from the CIRI Human Rights Dataset, we report evidence consistent with the theory. A statistically significant and nonlinear relationship exists between women’s rights gaps and female brain drain ratios. The evidence is particularly strong for the case of women’s political rights.

Keywords: female brain drain, high-skilled female migration, bilateral migration flows, women’s rights, institutional quality, gravity models

JEL Classification: F22, J11, J61, J16, O17, O43

Suggested Citation

Naghsh Nejad, Maryam and Young, Andrew T., Female Brain Drains and Women's Rights Gaps: A Gravity Model Analysis of Bilateral Migration Flows (March 15, 2014). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2191658 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2191658

Maryam Naghsh Nejad

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

University of Technology Sydney (UTS) ( email )

15 Broadway, Ultimo
PO Box 123
Sydney, NSW 2007
Australia

Andrew T. Young (Contact Author)

Texas Tech University - Rawls College of Business ( email )

Lubbock, TX 79409
United States

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