Migration instead of Aid? Remittances and Brain Circulation as Tools of Development

Abstract

International migration and development are among the most often cited
issues in contemporary scholarly and political discussions. Reduction of
socioeconomic disparities through development of economically less
developed countries or liberalization of workforce movement are
positioned very high on the political agendas of particular countries, as well
as on those of supranational and international organizations. Therefore, it
is not surprising that relations between migration and development attract
more and more attention not only from the scientific community but from
other individuals and organizations as well. In a limited amount of space,
this paper uncovers the impacts of international migration, above all of the
phenomenaons of remittances and skilled migration on the development of
both receiving and sending countries. The article discusses the challenge of
whether international migration is a better development strategy than
traditional development tools such as Official Development Assistance
(ODA) and argues against some traditional migration myths. This article
wants to contribute to the discussion in the Czech Republic on relations
between international migration and development with an emphasis on
developing countries. The article is structured as follows. The first part is a
brief description of international migration theories with development
aspects in mind. The second part deals with international migration in the
contemporary global world, stressing quantification of migration flows with
respect to the level of development. Finally, the third chapter summarizes
the most important findings from specific domains of relations between
international migration and development (particularly remittances and
skilled migration).