1059 



Dr. Frankel defined brain drain as "the flow of skilled and talented 

 people to our country from other countries," and as "the circulation 

 of brains." *^ "It is a contemporary manifestation of a phenomenon 

 common to all modernization," he"^said, "—the movement of people 

 away from the poorer and more isolated places towards the metro- 

 politan centers of the world." "* 



Dr. Kidd defined brain drain as "an index of the structural mal- 

 adjustments in both the 'sending' and 'receiving' countries." For the 

 latter it indicates an inelastic supply of certain talents and skills 

 "based in part on the monopolistic entry restrictions which are allowed 

 to operate in the professional sector of the economy." For the "send- 

 ing" nations, it may be the index of retarded development or under- 

 development. "In all cases." he continued, "the brain drain is simply 

 the symptom of the disease rather than the disease itself. . . ." *^ 



Claire Xader, a political scientist at Oak Ridge National Labora- 

 tory, defined brain drain in terms of crises in technical leadership; as 

 she'said, it "refers to damage to a nation's brain power and potential 

 leadership resources." Developing countries, whose trained elite such 

 as scientists, engineers, and physicians migrate to the advanced nations 

 of the West, face a situation, 'she explained, "which is intensified by 

 unused, underused, misused, or missing talent and skills within these 

 countries." Both the consequences of migratory phenomena and the 

 pattern of using specialized talents within a country, she concluded, 

 contribute to "maturing crises in technical leadership." *^ 



SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF BRAIN DRAIN DEFINITIONS 



Difficulty in defining "brain drain" adds to the complexities referred 

 to above in analyzing this problem. Yet, as the variations on defi- 

 nitions suggest, characteristics in the problem magnify the task of 

 definition. 



Diversity in stages of development among the LDCs creates differ- 

 ing criteria for defining what is meant by brain drain. Critics have 

 charged the United States with drawing off from poor countries 

 human resources urgently needed for their development. Simplistic, 

 dramatic, easily understood, and politically appealing, this stereo- 

 typed description of talent migration is inapplicable to many disad- 

 vantaged LDCs and oversimplified with respect to all. Both the Philip- 

 pines Eepublic and Nigeria are considered developing countries; yet 

 the pace and character of development in each of them differ widely. 

 Diversity rather than uniformity seems to be the rule rather than the 

 exception. Perhaps one of the most comprehensive statements on di- 



*■ Abiliil Said. Brain Drain: The Developing Countrie.<i — Causes, Ramifications, and 

 Prospects. (Lawrence, Kansas : University of Kansas, June 1970), pp. 1-2. 



** Hearings, Senate Judiciary Committee, International Migration of Talent and SkillSj 

 1967. p. 22. 



*^ Hearings, House Government Operations Committee, Brain Drain, 1968, p. 61. 



^? Claire Nader, "Technical Experts in Developing Countries," In Science and Tech- 

 nology in Developing Countries. Proceedings of a Conference held at the American Uni- 

 versity of Beirut, Lebanon. November 27-December 2, 1967. Claire Nader and A. B. 

 Zahlan, eds. (London : Cambridge University Press, 1969), p. 447. 



According to Professor V. M. Dandekar from Gokhali Institute of Politics and Economics 

 in India, the brain drain is "the flight of scientific, technical, administrative, and man- 

 agerial personnel from the developing countries to the developed countries." And according 

 to Dr. M. H. Nashar, the acting President of the University of Asyout, U.A.R., it is "the 

 process of brain and thought attrition of the developing countries." (Quoted in. Said, 

 op. cit., p. 1.) 



