1057 



of progress among the LDCs but ironicalU' produces conditions for 

 brain drain. 



Definition of Brain Drain 



The phenomenon known as "brain drain" is rooted in antiquity, but 

 the phrase itself was coined in a 1962 report by the British Royal So- 

 ciety which inc{uired into the emigration of engineers, scientists, and 

 technicians from Britain to North America. ^"^ The term has been widely 

 used in the United States, particularly in the lOGO's, to refer to immi- 

 gration into the United States of highly trained scientists and profes- 

 sionals from all countries. Migration of talent seems to embrace an 

 idea that is common in all variant definitions. 



Though students of the brain drain problem disagree widely on its 

 definition, they generally concur on the emotionalism that it generates. 

 The term is "loaded anJi pejorative," wrote Dr. Walter Adams, Eco- 

 nomics Professor at ]Michigan State University and a prominent 

 scholar of the brain drain, "leading those who use it to think automati- 

 cally of a loss of vital resources without compensation." Illustrations 

 remforce this mental habit, purporting to show that "human capital 

 is flowing out of economies where it can make the greatest contribution 

 and into economies already well-stocked with trained scientific and 

 administrative personnel.^' In such a melodramatic view, he noted, the 

 United States is characterized as "the greatest villain." Overlooked is 

 the fact that large numbers of skilled people migrate to countries other 

 than the United States." 



INTERNATIONALIST AND NATIONALIST THEORY OF BRAIN DRAIN 



In general, students of the brain drain define the problem from 

 either the internationalist or the nationalist perspective. Harry G. 

 Johnson of the London School of Economics professes to adopt "a 

 cosmopolitan liberal position," that is, the internationalist stance. He 

 regards nationalism as "one of the less pleasant vices in which man- 

 kind indulges itself, or as one of the characteristics of childish imma- 

 turity out of which I hope the people of the world will ultimately 

 grow." Accordingly, he begins with the assumptions, (1) that the in- 

 ternational circulation of human capital is a beneficial process since 

 it reflects "the free choices of the individuals who choose to migrate," 

 and (2) that "any argument to the contrary needs very careful scru- 

 tiny and documentation before it can be accepted." ^^ 



Advocates of the internationalist view tend to downgrade the nega- 

 tive effects on development of the migration of highly skilled profes- 

 sional manpower, and as evidence to buttress their case point to the 

 pioneering work of such "immigrants" to America as Einstein and 

 Fermi that benefited all mankind. Henry Fairlie expressed this point 

 of view in a comment on the British brain drain : "There is no brain 



M Walter Adams, "Talent That Won't Stay Put," p. 59. 



37 Ibid., pp. 61-62. 



In describing the emotionalism generated by this problem Philip H. Coombs wrote : 

 "The 'brain drain' label itself, ... is emotionally loaded — like piracy, theft and rape — 

 and thus carries its own answer. It implies that the f.nilure of any student from a develop- 

 ing country to go home when his studies are finished is ipso facto a bad thing and 

 somehow is immoral. Many people in fact believe this. Their writings encourage us to 

 approach the matter with a large guilt complex." (Op. eit.. p. 59.) 



38 Harry G. Johnson, "In Search of an Analytical Framework : An 'Internationalist 

 Model,' " In Adams, The Brain Drain, p. 70. 



