Socio-Economic Determinants of Highly-Skilled Migration

The authors continued the empirical studies of systemic (push/pull) factors influencing the decision of highly-skilled workers to migrate. Considerable attention is paid to the analysis of  postgraduate mobility of the Russian university graduates. The  authors determine the need for a deeper study of the outflow of  highly skilled workers abroad and establish main directions towards  resolving this issue. The example of the aggregate «Bachelor  graduates of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of  Economics» was used to reveal the nature of the influence of socio- economic factors on making the decision about the labour migration. The level of education was limited  to the Batchelor’s degree in order to confirm the impact of educational migration on the decision to  migrate for employment purposes. Based on comparative analysis of  push/pull factors the authors formulated the hypothesis for  establishing their significance in the decision made by highly-skilled  specialists to migrate. Following the study results the authors  identify key drivers of human mobility, among which are economic  factors such as dissatisfaction with the standard of living and  opportunities for self-realization, and non-economic factors  associated with the status and desire to be in a politically stable  situation. The role of educational migration as a potential channel for labor migration of professionals in the future is proved: more than  50 percent of respondents noted that initially the decision to leave  the Russian Federation was made in connection with the desire to  enter a foreign University to continue education. The analysis of  survey results established alarmingly low participation of the  migrated graduates from Russia in the development of transnational  ties with their native country: the vast majority of respondents have  never invested in securities of Russian companies, nor have they  performed trade operations with Russian companies or conduct any  business in Russia; only 6 percent of the surveyed graduates  monthly sent remittances to relatives in Russia. One of the  conclusions of the article is the necessity to develop a  comprehensive program for the state employment policy in the field of international labor migration.

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