Diaspora Externalities as a Cornerstone of the New Brain Drain Literature∗

The pace of international skilled migration has accelerated dur-ing recent decades and it has attracted considerable attention across scholars and politicians. This paper gives a general and critical idea of the brain drain issue. It provides stylized facts on the magnitude and skill composition of migration and explores the main findings on brain drain. Then it focuses on diaspora networks and on the major chan-nels whereby they foster economic development in source countries. Some policy implications and general conclusion for future research are also given in the last part of the work