Potential Skilled Labor Migration, Internationalization of Education with Focus on Medical Education: The Case of Arab Countries

Abstract

This chapter is a contribution to the new economics of skilled labor emigration that focuses on the mobility of students with application to the Arab countries with a special focus on medical education in these economies. With limited data on the emigration of students, descriptive statistics besides regression analysis are pursued to support the empirical investigations. The findings show statistically significant trends in emigration of students from Arab countries. They also indicate that the relative expected benefits and the emigration rate have major effects on the net relative human capital who leave for international destinations. The effects of the relative expected benefits in the destination and sending countries besides the yield of education are found to likely affect the emigration patterns. The empirical results based on the available data mainly from UNESCO (1990-2010) and OECD (2005-2009) allow further use of the model to understand the current trends in the emigration of students. These trends confirm the magnitude of relative wages besides the level of education and the attitude toward risk as determinants of the international movements of students. The complexities taking place in the education systems in different countries with the internationalization and delocalization of universities and schools are likely to introduce more options for students but also new possibilities to understand the outcomes of migration decisions.