Terrorism and Brain Drain in Pakistan: Is There a Connection?

Abstract

This study empirically investigates the effect of terrorism and other push and pull factors on the skilled labour out-migration in Pakistan over the time period 1973–2015. The empirical findings based on fully modified ordinary least squares (FM-OLS) technique suggest that the waves of terrorism have not significantly driven the out-migration of skilled labour from Pakistan. Relatively, traditional push factors including inflation, unemployment and rising capital share in gross domestic product (GDP) have remained the major factors behind brain drain from Pakistan. Comparatively, the per capita economic growth, poverty and host and origin country’s emigration policies have curtailed the skilled out-migration. The findings suggest improving socio-economic conditions, increasing GDP per capita and decreasing unemployment and inflation in order to control the out-migration of skilled workers from Pakistan. Besides, the domestic labour market is required to boost the absorption capacity of highly educated and qualified workers in the country by making them more compatible to the existing stock of capital to restrict the brain drain. JEL: F22, F52, J24, C32