Working In New Zealand Costs Dear
university-of-waikato
Thu Feb 26 2009 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Working In New Zealand Costs Dear
Thursday, 26 February 2009, 2:49 pm
Press Release: University of Waikato
Media Release
February 26, 2009
Our best and brightest give up almost $2,000 a week to work
in New Zealand
New Zealand’s academic high-achievers may give up a lot financially if they stay home.
The first findings from a new research project on this group show very high levels of migration, with those who remain in or return to New Zealand giving up almost $2,000 a week on average in income.
The study, by Professor John Gibson of the University of Waikato Management School and Dr David McKenzie of the World Bank, focused on people who were among the best high school students in the nation over the 1976-2004 period. This group was defined as members of New Zealand’s maths and chemistry Olympics teams, top scholars in the New Zealand Bursary examinations, and duxes at selected high-performing secondary schools.
The researchers attempted to track down these high-achievers and surveyed them on their education and job paths, migration experiences, and continued interactions with New Zealand if they were abroad.
“Twenty-four percent of New Zealanders with tertiary education live abroad, the highest rate in the OECD. We find even higher levels of migration among the academic high-achievers, with half of them abroad at age 30, and 70 percent having worked or studied abroad by age 45,” says Dr McKenzie, himself an example of the phenomenon, having been top male scholar in the 1992 bursary examinations.
However, the research also shows high levels of return migration, with 35 percent of the top scholars having returned to work in New Zealand by age 45, despite the much higher incomes they could earn abroad.
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Prof Gibson and Dr McKenzie also looked at why some of the academic high-achievers never migrate, and why some return. Their results suggest that these decisions are driven more by preferences and career concerns than income opportunities. “Those who studied sciences or foreign languages in secondary school are the most likely to go abroad, and their return is linked to whether they have family still in New Zealand, and their preference for New Zealand lifestyle factors,” says Dr McKenzie. “Top students who get a PhD and marry a foreign citizen are much less likely to return to New Zealand.”
The authors caution that these high migration rates should not necessarily be viewed as brain drain or as detrimental to New Zealand. “High educational achievement is very much a result of migration, rather than a determinant,” says Prof Gibson.
“More than 50 percent of these top students who have graduate degrees and 73 percent of those with PhDs studied abroad. Many returned migrants have gained knowledge learned abroad, while current migrants continue to interact with New Zealand in a variety of ways. Our ongoing research is attempting to quantify the impact of this high-skilled emigration on New Zealand’s economy.”
Finally, the research shows current migrants have quite different views about what would attract them back, compared to many of the ideas dominating popular discussion of ways to tackle the brain drain. In particular, student loans are not mentioned as an important factor in either migration or return decisions.
“Given the vast income difference between opportunities abroad and in New Zealand, tinkering at the margins of income tax rates may also hold little promise for drawing these top scholars back,” says Dr McKenzie.
Instead the researchers found many high achievers working abroad highlight the poor quality and limited funding opportunities of the research environment in New Zealand.
“This is particularly important for scientists, who note that funding for scientific laboratories is very limited in New Zealand compared to overseas, and that in particular fields such as genetic engineering, New Zealand regulations make it very difficult for them to carry out their work,” says Prof Gibson. “Given these circumstances, it is often only family and lifestyle reasons that draw them back here.”
A paper with results from the project is available at:
http://ideas.repec.org/p/crm/wpaper/0903.html
Future results will also be posted at:
http://wms-soros.mngt.waikato.ac.nz/Marsden+Fund+Project/Top+Students.htm
ends
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